Thoracic ultrasound use in hospitalized and ambulatory adult patients: a quantitative picture

The Ultrasound Journal

Table 2 TUS results

Number of patients	526^a
Number of thoracic ultrasound studies	762^a
Question for TUS referral
Q1: underlying malignancy	376^b
Q2: unexplained symptoms/signs	53^b
Q3: pregnancy related	42^b
Q4: further evaluation of abnormal X-ray findings	165^b
Q5: recent surgery/trauma	23^b
Q6: recent onset respiratory failure	12^b
Q7: respiratory infections	66^b
Q8: underlying non-malignant disease with possible respiratory system involvement	25^b
Thoracic ultrasound findings^c
Pleural effusion	610^a
Consolidation^d	269^a
Atelectasis	225^a
Pneumonia	44^a
Pulmonary embolism	11^a
Interstitial syndrome	53^a
Diaphragm dysfunction (malignant/non malignant)	168/6^a
Diaphragm paralysis	7
Pneumothorax	5^a
Normal	57^a
Discrepancies^e
Yes	96^a
No/don’t know	666^a
Decision
Invasive (thoracentesis, drainage, chest tube, surgery)	448^a
Non-invasive (antibiotics, diuresis, other examinations order)	43^a
Monitoring/Follow up/No intervention	271^a

^aValues are expressed as absolute numbers
^bNumber of lung ultrasound examinations per question (total N = 759), values are expressed as absolute numbers
^cMore than one lung ultrasound finding per study is possible
^dConsolidation can be subdivided into atelectasis and pneumonia
^eDiscrepancies between chest X-ray or CT finding and ultrasonographic findings