Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Lung, Emergency, Interventional non-vascular, Ultrasound, CT, Percutaneous, Biopsy, Drainage, Atelectasis, Cancer, Infection
Authors:
G. Ion, C.-I. Betianu; Bucharest/RO
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-1383
Background
Dyspnea is one of the most challenging complaint in the emergency department.
The cause of dyspnea (cardiogenic or non-cardiogenic) must be rapidly established as it is a potentially life-threatening illness.
Chest radiograhy has limitations in diagnosing pleuro-pulmonary diseases,
while thoracic CT has several drawbacks such as irradiation,
costs and the need for transportation.
Lung ultrasound helps to rapidly identify the cause of dyspnea (pulmonary edema,
pneumonia,
pleural effusion,
asthma,
pneumothorax,
pulmonary embolism) and establish specific therapeutic measures.
Ultrasound is also a valuable tool for transthoracic procedures such as pleural effusion drainage or peripheral lung lesion biopsy.