DVT ultrasound

Anatomy

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

Technique

1. Transducer
   1. Linear array vascular probe 6–10 MHz
   2. 6–8cm width ideal (for larger patients, consider abdominal probe)
2. 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 obstructing venous thrombus is likely to be present.