General

Synonym/Acronym:
Vascular ultrasound, venous duplex, venous sonogram, venous ultrasound.

Rationale
To assess venous blood flow in the upper and lower extremities toward diagnosing disorders such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), venous insufficiency, causation of pulmonary embolism, varicose veins, and monitor the effects of therapeutic interventions.

Patient Preparation
There are no food, fluid, activity, or medication restrictions unless by medical direction. Some protocols may require the patient to restrict nicotine and caffeine for 1 to 2 hr before the procedure in order to avoid vasoconstriction or vasodilation.

Normal Findings

• Normal Doppler venous signal that occurs spontaneously with the patient’s respiration
• Normal blood flow through the veins of the extremities with no evidence of vessel occlusion.

Critical Findings and Potential Interventions

• DVT
• Pulmonary embolism (PE)

Timely notification to the requesting health-care provider (HCP) of any critical findings and related symptoms is a role expectation of the professional nurse. A listing of these findings varies among facilities.