Patients with hypotension or shock have high mortality rates, and traditional physical exam techniques can be misleading. Diagnosis and initial care must be accurate and prompt to optimize patient care. Ultrasound is ideal for evaluating critically ill patients in shock, and ACEP guidelines now delineate a new category of ultrasound (US)– “resuscitative.” Bedside US allows for direct visualization of pathology and differentiation of shock states (1). The RUSH is one of the most commonly used protocols for this purpose.
The RUSH exam involves a 3-part bedside physiologic assessment simplified as “the pump,” “the tank,” and “the pipes” (2).
Pump
Tank
Pipes
References and Further Reading
- By Organ System or Specialty Archives | Page 84 of 123 | ALiEM. https://www.aliem.com/category/emergency-medicine-clinical/system/page/84/
- Seif D1, Perera P, Mailhot T, Riley D, Mandavia D. “Bedside ultrasound in resuscitation and the rapid ultrasound in shock protocol” Crit Care Res Pract. 2012;2012:503254.
- https://iem-student.org/2020/02/14/lower-extremity-deep-venous-us-imaging-illustrations/
- https://iem-student.org/rush/
- https://iem-student.org/efast/
Cite this article as: Murat Yazici, Turkey, "Rapid Ultrasound for Shock and Hypotension (RUSH) Protocol US Imaging – Illustrations," in International Emergency Medicine Education Project, May 29, 2020, https://iem-student.org/2020/05/29/rush-protocol-illustrations/, date accessed: December 11, 2023
