So it is with gradual amazement and a great sense of accomplishment that we have witnessed the remarkable interest that our field of acute care has taken in VExUS. This has also been tempered by the humility of experience, as all of us have seen fads come and go, and also because an interventional approach based on VExUS is not yet evidence-based, as the studies remain to be done, some being underway. At the same time, it has been a good 4-5 years that most of those involved in the VExUS papers have been using Doppler-enhanced POCUS assessment of venous congestion. Our pragmatic and empiric experience has solidified in our minds the importance of venous congestion and the pitfalls in being oblivious to it. At the same time, we have some reservations about seeing it be used in a recipe form, with a “VExUS-furosemide reflex” which would NOT be how a bedside physiology tool should be used.
Hence, we decided to put this together, to be much more than a “how-to” – which to us has the risk of giving a tool without good instructions – but to be comprehensive in it scope, to take participants from pathophysiology thru ultrasound assessment and finally potential clinical application.
After the success of The APRV-TCAV(tm) Course, we have decided to follow the blueprint and make this a 6 hour, two part course, with a didactic online portion which participants are asked to complete prior to the live workshop, where we will present and discuss cases and the nuts and bolts of clinical management integrating VExUS to the global clinical assessment, POCUS and otherwise, which is how it should be used.
The idea is to come out of this with a solid understanding of venous congestion, the various means to assess it, and a clinical framework to implement into the management of these patients on a daily basis.
The Pilot Course (virtual): September 21, 2021, 1pm eastern time.
The first one, to work out the kinks, will have a token registration fee and limited to 40 participants. If you are a trainee or from a resource-limited area please let us know, we are reserving some complimentary spots. Registration will open at the end of July, so email hospresusconference@gmail.com to be considered for a spot! Please include a short description of your practice to be considered for a spot. We are favouring acute care clinicians with POCUS experience as this is not a basic POCUS skill, and we want participants to be able to start using VExUS following the course.
Due to current travel restrictions and the uncertainty related to quarantine, this event will be virtual. We anticipate that further events will likely be live, and this course will likely be given during BeachResus and H&R2022.
The Faculty
Dr. Korbin Haycock (@khaycock2) – Riveside Health & Loma Linda University, CA, USA.
Dr. Rory Spiegel (@EMNerd) – Washington Medical Center, DC.
Dr. Philippe Rola (@ThinkingCC) – Santa Cabrini Hospital-CIUSSS-EMTL, Montreal, QC.
All three of us were part of the original VExUS study and have continued to expand the literature on the topic. We use POCUS and assess venous congestion on a daily basis. We have all been teaching via #FOAMed and live conferences for several years. We’re looking forward to share our experience with each participant.
Some VExUS references:
https://theultrasoundjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13089-020-00163-w
https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-020-03330-6
https://theultrasoundjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13089-021-00232-8
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33132560/
thinking critical care 