Nieves Lopez Laguna, Raquel Piñero Panadero, María Del Valle Navarro, Lourdes Hernández Castells, Salvador Pereira Sanz, Maria García-Uría Santos

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the emergency ultrasound as a tool for diagnosis in Emergencies

METHODS

A 42-year-old male came to the emergency department complaining of a moderate pain in the right lower extremity that started 24 hours earlier.

Previously he had received an accidental blow at home and his right leg had been swollen since then. He was not breathless and had no chest pain or palpitations.

He was apyretic and had no recent infectious process.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

We observed an asymmetrical lower limb girth. Pain was noticed in pretibial region. Homan’s sign was doubtful. D-Dimer test was positive.

In a proximal leg vein ultrasound examination (POCUS) a blood clot was detected.

After an initial treatment with bemiparin 10000 UI per day during 3 days, we prescribed Apixaban for 6 months following the incident.

RESULTS

Bedside ultrasound showed to be a fast and accurate test for diagnosis in deep vein thrombosis.

CONCLUSION

Point of care ultrasound is a fast and useful tool to confirm the presence of thrombus in the emergency room.