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Review article: Investigations and the pregnant woman in the emergency department – part 2: Point‐of‐care ultrasound, electrocardiography, respiratory function tests and radiology
Author(s) -
Morton Adam,
Teasdale Stephanie
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
emergency medicine australasia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1742-6723
pISSN - 1742-6731
DOI - 10.1111/1742-6723.12956
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency department , point of care ultrasound , electrocardiography , emergency medicine , radiology , cardiology , medical emergency , intensive care medicine , nursing
Accurate assessment of the pregnant patient in the ED depends on knowledge of physiological changes in pregnancy, and how these changes may impact on pathology tests, appearance on point‐of‐care ultrasound, electrocardiography and respiratory function tests. In addition, the emergency physician needs to be cognisant of disorders that are unique to or more common during pregnancy. Part 2 of this review addresses the role of point‐of‐care ultrasound in pregnancy, physiological changes that may affect interpretation of point‐of‐care ultrasound, changes in electrocardiography and respiratory function tests, and the safety of radiological procedures in the pregnant patient. Part 1 addressed potential deviations in laboratory investigation reference intervals resulting from physiological alterations in pregnancy and the important causes of abnormal laboratory results in pregnancy.