Dr. Vivek Nanda is a renowned Emergency Medicine physician at multispecialty KD Hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He completed his DNB in Emergency Medicine from Apollo Hospital, Bangalore and in his total 12 years of work experience in the field of pharmaceuticals, critical & emergency care medicine, ultrasound was introduced in year 2014 in his clinical practice and now point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is utilized almost daily by him in the emergency department.
He is also an emergency consultant for all sports events conducted at The Narendra Modi Stadium (world’s largest cricket stadium located at Ahmedabad) by ICC (International Cricket Council), BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and GCA (Gujarat Cricket Association) from the past 1 year.
He routinely deploys Sonosite M-Turbo ultrasound system to perform Echo, Lung ultrasound, E-fast and in different E-Med protocols.
In his view, POCUS is an easy and reliable tool to use in case of trauma, sepsis, different shocks, difficult cannulations (Ultrasound guided central or PICC lines) and much more. It can save time, simplify differentials, and gives an idea about the probable management options for patients to clinicians. It may also augment the confidence of the patient and their relatives indirectly when the clinician explains about the findings and further management plan. It can help to decrease the bed turn around ratio in Emergency department by disposing the patient to ICU, OT, or ward in quick time.
He stated, “Many studies have been published in index journals about the utility of compact ultrasound machines for emergency room and multiple protocols have been designed (such as BLUE, RUSH, CLOT, E- FAST and more) to augment and help in patient management.” He further explained:
- In case of abdominal trauma and patient being hypotensive, E-FAST (positive) exam may help in identifying a bleed or free fluid in abdomen which necessitate shifting the patient to OT immediately for laparotomy and further management without wasting more time and saving precious life.
- In case of thoracic trauma, point of care ultrasound may help in identifying absence of A profile and barcode sign diagnosing Pneumo or tension pneumothorax and need of needle decompression to quickly save the patient.
- Echo screening in case of thoracic trauma with engorgement of neck veins may quickly help in diagnosing Cardiac tamponade which in turn will help in managing the patient initially and then we get time to shift the patient to cathlab or OT accordingly
- RUSH protocol with POCUS may help in identifying type of shock and its etiology.
Dr. Nanda is also the Program Director of SONOFOCUS course, which is a comprehensive hands-on Ultrasound learning program and held twice a year since its inception in March 2022. This course is designed with the aim to propagate Ultrasound education to every resident, registrar, and consultant in the field of emergency and critical care medicine. Pls visit www.sonofocus.com for further information.