User:Aoziwe/sandbox/Ultrasound Education Group

The Ultrasound Education Group, also abbreviated as UEG, is a research and education group at the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Department of Surgery.

The Ultrasound Education Group, University of Melbourne is located inside the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct, which is made up of over 40 hospitals, research, teaching and biotechnology organisations.

UEG’s research topics are transthoracic echocardiogram; transesophageal echocardiography for cardiac surgery; clinical point of care diagnostic ultrasound for heart, vascular, lungs, abdomen, invasive procedures. Other areas of research include cardiothoracic surgery; cardiothoracic anaesthesia; postoperative quality of recovery in surgery; and self-directed learning with ultrasound simulators.

Notable Research Outcomes

 * Patients in heart surgery have better probabilities of survival if arteries from their chest wall and arms are used to replumb their heart, instead of leg veins. By scrutinising 51,000 Australian patients, Melbourne researchers discovered the risk of dying prematurely was at least 22 per cent higher if any leg vein was used in coronary bypass surgery
 * Cardiac surgery relies heavily on donated blood because of the high blood transfusion rates. But a major study of over 5,000 heart surgery patients has now shown that surgeons can safely use significantly less blood than they have been. The potential saving is equivalent to around one blood donation (about 470 millilitres) per moderate-to-high risk patient.