Guidelines Procedures Quality and Patient Safety

Guidelines on Adult Critical Care Ultrasonography: Focused Update 2024

José L. Díaz-Gómez, MD, MAS, NCC (UCNS), FASE, FCCM Sara Nikravan, MD, FASED, FCCM

PUBLISHED: 02/21/2025

Guidelines on Adult Critical Care Ultrasonography: Focused Update 2024

Citation: Diaz-Gomez JL, Sharif S, Ablordeppey E, et al. Society of Critical Care Medicine guidelines on adult critical care ultrasonography: focused update 2024. Crit Care Med. 2025;53(2):e447-e458.

Critical care ultrasonography (CCUS) is rapidly evolving with new evidence since the publication of the 2016 guidelines. This focused update provides current evidence to assist clinicians in performing CCUS in five essential clinical scenarios: cardiac arrest, sepsis, acute dyspnea/respiratory failure, volume management, and cardiogenic shock.

In adult patients with septic shock, acute dyspnea/respiratory failure, or cardiogenic shock, the guidelines panel suggests using CCUS to guide management. Given evidence supporting an improvement in mortality, the guideline panel suggests the use of CCUS for targeted volume management as opposed to usual care without CCUS. There were insufficient data to determine whether CCUS should be used over standard care without CCUS in the management of patients with cardiac arrest.

Guideline Type: Clinical

Related Resources:

Visual Abstract: Guidelines on Adult Critical Care Ultrasonography

Read Full Guideline

Author

José L. Díaz-Gómez, MD, MAS, NCC (UCNS), FASE, FCCM

José L. Díaz-Gómez, MD, MAS, NCC (UCNS), FASE, FCCM, is the institute chair, critical care at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. His immediate previous position was chief of cardiothoracic, mechanical circulatory support, and transplant critical care at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA.

Author

Sara Nikravan, MD, FASED, FCCM

Sara Nikravan, MD, FASED, FCCM, is the director of point-of-care ultrasound and associate program director of residency at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. She is the chair of SCCM’s Ultrasound Committee and Critical Care Ultrasound course. She is co-editor of the Critical Care Ultrasound, 2nd edition, textbook.

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