Recommendations for Lung Ultrasound in Internal Medicine
Natalia Buda,
Wojciech Kosiak,
Marcin Wełnicki,
Agnieszka Skoczylas,
Robert Olszewski,
Jakub Piotrkowski,
Szymon Skoczyński,
Elżbieta Radzikowska,
Ewa Jassem,
Elżbieta Magdalena Grabczak,
Piotr Kwaśniewicz,
Gebhard Mathis,
Tudor P. Toma
Affiliations
Natalia Buda
Department of Internal Medicine, Connective Tissue Diseases and Geriatrics, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-365 Gdansk, Poland
Wojciech Kosiak
Department of Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-365 Gdansk, Poland
Marcin Wełnicki
3rd Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
Agnieszka Skoczylas
Geriatrics Department, National Institute of Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, 02-637 Warsaw, Poland
Robert Olszewski
Department of Gerontology, Public Health and Didactics, National Institute of Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, 02-637 Warsaw, Poland
Jakub Piotrkowski
Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Independent Public Health Care Facility of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs with the Oncology in Olsztyn, 10-900 Olsztyn, Poland
Szymon Skoczyński
Department of Pneumonology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 40-055 Katowice, Poland
Elżbieta Radzikowska
III Department of Lung Diseases and Oncology, National Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Institute, 01-138 Warsaw, Poland
Ewa Jassem
Department of Pulmonology and Allergology, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland
Elżbieta Magdalena Grabczak
Department of Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases and Allergy, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
Piotr Kwaśniewicz
Diagnostic Imaging Department, Mother and Child Institute, 01-211 Warsaw, Poland
Gebhard Mathis
Emergency Ultrasound in the Austrian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1100 Vienna, Austria
Tudor P. Toma
Consultant Respiratory Physician and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, King’s College University Hospital Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, London SE6 2LR, UK
A growing amount of evidence prompts us to update the first version of recommendations for lung ultrasound in internal medicine (POLLUS-IM) that was published in 2018. The recommendations were established in several stages, consisting of: literature review, assessment of literature data quality (with the application of QUADAS, QUADAS-2 and GRADE criteria) and expert evaluation carried out consistently with the modified Delphi method (three rounds of on-line discussions, followed by a secret ballot by the panel of experts after each completed discussion). Publications to be analyzed were selected from the following databases: Pubmed, Medline, OVID, and Embase. New reports published as of October 2019 were added to the existing POLLUS-IM database used for the original publication of 2018. Altogether, 528 publications were systematically reviewed, including 253 new reports published between September 2017 and October 2019. The new recommendations concern the following conditions and issues: pneumonia, heart failure, monitoring dialyzed patients’ hydration status, assessment of pleural effusion, pulmonary embolism and diaphragm function assessment. POLLUS-IM 2020 recommendations were established primarily for clinicians who utilize lung ultrasound in their everyday clinical work.
