Table 1 Emergency department versus critical care ultrasonography

Focused on cardiac, thoracic (pleura/lung), vascular diagnostic, screening abdominal, and procedural guidance [7]

Includes all critical care ultrasonography, extended abdominal, testicular, early obstetric, musculoskeletal, and ocular [4]

Initial and serial examinations for ongoing diagnosis and management

Typically single examination for diagnosis and disposition

Does not lead to decision to discharge from hospital

Frequently leads to decision to discharge from hospital