Pulmonary Ultrasound

Abstract

Pulmonary ultrasound, as a diagnostic tool, is rapidly increasing in its adoption in acute care specialties. With relative ease, frontline clinicians can learn a few simple pulmonary sonographic signs, enabling them to narrow down the differential diagnosis of respiratory failure in a very expeditious manner. Accurate assessments of lung fluid overload, pneumothorax, lung consolidation, and pleural effusions are all readily performed using ultrasound with much greater sensitivity than chest X-rays. Mastering this technique, however, requires an understanding of the physical principles that are key to the development of pulmonary sonographic artifacts and ultrasound findings. A method of collecting, storing, and labeling images taken in each hemithorax is described in this chapter. In addition, state-of-the-art practical perioperative applications of pulmonary ultrasound are discussed. When used in conjunction with a clinical assessment, pulmonary ultrasound can be used for interval scanning of critically ill patients, eliminating or decreasing the need for serial chest X-rays or CT scans, and, more importantly, guiding informed patient management decisions.