Lung Ultrasound: Evaluation for Pleural Fluid and Pneumothorax

Lung Ultrasound: Evaluation for Pleural Fluid and Pneumothorax

The Basics

Think about gravity: fluid will collect in most dependent region (down); air tends to collect towards the least dependent regions (up)

Air does not reflect sound waves well. Lungs are filled with air. Rather than getting most of our information from visualizing the anatomy (as in a RUQ ultrasound, for example), much of our information comes from “artifact” or ultrasound waves being affected by phase changes.

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