Peripheral muscular ultrasound as outcome assessment tool in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation: An observational cohort study.

Background & Aims: Survivors of critical illness experience significant skeletal muscle wasting that may predict clinical outcome. Ultrasound (US) is a noninvasive method that can measure muscle quadriceps muscle layer thickness (QMLT) at the bedside. The aim of this study was to determine the muscle loss assessed by ultrasonography (US) of the quadriceps femoris muscle in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation and its relationship with hospital outcomes.

Bedside ultrasound is a practical measurement tool for assessing muscle mass.

Objective: To evaluate the intra- and inter-reliability and the ease of measuring the quadriceps muscle thickness using bedside ultrasound.

Methods: This is a prospective, observational study. The assessment of quadriceps muscle thickness was performed at two reference points and was quantified using portable B-mode ultrasound in two healthy volunteers.