A case report of lung ultrasound missing a pneumothorax due to patient positioning. (November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schrift, David; Barron, Keith; Wagner, Michael; Arya, Rohan
• Is Part Of: Ultrasound. Volume 25:Number 4(2017:Nov.)
• Page Start: 248
• Page End: 250
• Publication Date: 2017-11
• Subjects: Lung ultrasound -- critical care ultrasound -- pneumothorax -- patient position; Ultrasonic imaging -- Periodicals; Ultrasonography -- Periodicals; 616.0754305
• DOI: 10.1177/1742271X17708473
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-271X

Abstract

Lung ultrasound is increasingly utilized as a diagnostic tool for the detection of a pneumothorax. The effect of small changes in patient positioning on the accuracy of lung ultrasound to detect a pneumothorax is not well studied. We present the first known case of lung ultrasound missing a pneumothorax because of suboptimal patient positioning, and discuss the implications of our findings for clinicians that utilize lung ultrasound and for future research.