Emergency Medicine Commons^™

Emergency Department Ultrasound Probe Infection Control: Challenges And Solutions, Hamid A. Shokoohi, Paige Armstrong, Ryan Tansek

Emergency Medicine Faculty Publications

Point-of-care ultrasound (US) has become a cornerstone in the diagnosis and treatment of patients in the emergency department (ED). Despite the beneficial impact on patient care, concern exists over repeat use of probes and the role as a vector for pathogen transmission. US probes are used for various applications, with the level of infection risk, based on the Spaulding Classification, ranging from noncritical with common practice to semicritical with endocavitary probes. To date, the most closely studied organisms are Staphylococcus aureus and human papilloma virus. Current evidence does confirm probe colonization but has not established a causative role in human …