DVT ultrasound

Anatomy

1. Significant risk of PE:
   1. Common femoral vein
   2. (Superficial) femoral vein
      1. (Superficial) femoral vein is part of the deep system, not the superficial system as the name suggests!
   3. Popliteal veins

Technique

1. Patient positioning
   1. Reverse trendelenberg or semi-sitting with 30 degrees of hip flexion
2. Transducer
   1. Linear array vascular probe 6–10 MHz
   2. 6–8cm width ideal (for larger patients, consider abdominal probe)
3. Compression
   1. Compress vein with transducer
   2. Touching of anterior and posterior walls = normal
   3. No touching with pressures sufficient to deform the artery = likely DVT