Category: Ultrasound
Keywords: Pleural Effusion; POCUS (PubMed Search)
Posted: 4/22/2024 by Alexis Salerno, MD
(Emailed: 4/29/2024)
(Updated: 4/29/2024)
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How do you look for signs of a pleural effusion with ultrasound?
Place your ultrasound probe in the mid axillary line with the probe marker placed towards the patient's head.
Find the movement of the diaphragm and scan just above the diaphragm.
In normal lung, air scatters the ultrasound signal, and you are not able to see structures above the diaphragm.
With a pleural effusion, you can see: