A New Tool in the Examination of Lungs in the Emergency Department: Lung Ultrasound

Abstract

Pneumonia is a worldwide major healthcare and economic problem. It has a considerable effect on morbidity and mortality. The use of lung ultrasound (LUS) has gained popularity in intensive care units and emergency departments (EDs). LUS has recently been shown to be highly effective for evaluating pulmonary conditions and has been increasingly recognized as a potentially useful approach for diagnosing community-acquired pneumonia. Here we present the case of a patient with dyspnea due to pneumonia. Pleural effusion and parancimal images were obtained by LUS, and the pleural thickness was determined. We found that LUS is a useful tool for diagnosing pneumonia and detecting pleural effusion in EDs.

Keywords

• Consolidation
• lung ultrasound
• pleural effusion
• pneumonia