Emergency medicine and primary care physicians frequently see patients in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. An intrauterine pregnancy can be quickly confirmed at the bedside with an ultrasound exam.
As part of our Clarius Classroom POCUS (Point-of-Care) video series, Dr. Oron Frenkel, an emergency physician and ultrasound educator, demonstrates how to quickly identify an intrauterine pregnancy.
Watch this 90 second tutorial to see his step-by-step approach.
Dr. Frenkel uses a Clarius C3 HD Curvilinear scanner and the OB/GYN preset on the Clarius App, which he operates with his iPhone. This same method can be used with any ultrasound machine.
6 Steps for Using Handheld Ultrasound to Identify an Intrauterine Pregnancy
- Start with the indicator to the patient’s right.
- Begin scanning in the transverse orientation.
- First identify the bladder to get your bearings. You’ll see the bladder by aiming the transducer just above the super pubic area into the pelvis.
- Scan from the bladder and then identify the uterus, typically adjacent to the bladder.
- Continue sweeping through until an intrauterine pregnancy is identified. Early signs of an intrauterine pregnancy would be a yolk sac or heart movements.
(NOTE: In this video, we’re scanning a woman with a normal pregnancy so we see fetal heart tones present.) - Once you’ve scanned the whole uterus in transverse, it’s a good idea to go lateral. Rotate the transducer and aim the indicator to the patient’s head. Do another sweep to make sure there isn’t a second gestational sac present.
This instructional video is one of a series in our Clarius Classroom that are recorded with expert ultrasound instructors.
With high-quality imaging and an AI-driven app that is almost as easy to use as your smart phone, Clarius HD is the ideal ultrasound system for clinicians who are experienced or new to ultrasound. To learn more about how easy it is to learn and use the Clarius C3HD multipurpose ultrasound scanner for point-of-care ultrasound exams, contact us today or request an ultrasound demo.
If you’re interested in seeing more ultrasound educational videos on Clarius Classroom, we invite you to subscribe to our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or YouTube channel for alerts.
