Management of acute civilian vascular injuries

Emergency department use of hand-held Doppler ultrasonography

Doppler ultrasonography (DU) using a hand-held Doppler device represents a readily available emergency department (ED) technique that has been used for diagnostic testing with conditions associated with abnormal vascular flow, such as deep venous thrombosis, testicular torsion, and arterial insufficiency. DU may serve as a useful initial diagnostic test in the ED setting. The appropriate indications, techniques of examination, and accuracy of DU are summarized for the aforementioned conditions.