Soft-Tissue Complaints

Soft-tissue complaints are common presentations in acute care environments. Ultrasound may assist in the diagnosis of soft-tissue findings, such as identifying cellulitis [1, 2], abscesses [3, 4], and foreign bodies [5, 6]. Most soft-tissue structures are readily visible on ultrasound, as they conduct sound waves well and are superficial. Ultrasound may guide procedures involving the skin and joints, such as incision and drainage, foreign body removals, and joint aspirations [7, 8]. While the use of bedside ultrasound for soft tissue is operator-dependent [9], it is easy to learn, readily available, affordable, and decreases overall time to diagnosis. In many cases it is an excellent alternative to X-ray, CT scan, or MRI (Figs. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, and 1.10; Videos 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3).