Palliative ultrasound for home care hospice patients.

The evolving relationship between emergency and palliative medicine is expected to benefit patients of each. Two collaborative care encounters involving home hospice patients are discussed. Portable bedside ultrasound was performed in the home to diagnose ascites and to guide palliative paracentesis. Specific interventions and outcomes are reported. The interface of emergency and palliative care and the use of paracentesis in cancer palliation are briefly reviewed. It is concluded that home-performed ultrasound and ultrasound-guided procedures are promising palliative modalities for care at the end of life. Copyright (c) 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.