The cool thing about ultrasound is that it doesn't need translation. What you see on the screen is what you get, and for the patients in Ayacucho that haven't seen technology like this before, being ultrasounded is both useful as a diagnostic and a psychological therapeutic. While seeing patients with Dr. Cesar Aranguri, mission director and cardiologist, we performed a cardiac ultrasound exam on nearly every patient that came in. There was one rare case in which we used ultrasound to diagnose a patient with rheumatic fever - matching the clinical signs with the valve defects identifiable on ultrasound helped Dr. Aranguri effectively care for his patient.
But for the most part, our patients presented with muscular chest pain, in which no significant therapy was needed. So Dr. Aranguri performed what he called "therapeutic ultrasound" on these patients. Examining their heart and telling them it looked healthy and strong gave them a piece of mind they didn't seem to get in any other way. This is one of the powers of medical technology, especially in areas like Ayacucho, and by helping lower the anxiety level of these patients, ultrasound proves to be a powerful tool for mission trips like these. Hopefully next year, we can find a way to bring another machine or two!
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