Purpose of review
Point of care ultrasound continues to become more prevalent in the diagnosis and management of many disease states. In this review, we focus on the use of bedside
lung ultrasound (LUS) in the diagnosis of
pneumonia. We describe the sonographic findings associated with
pneumonia and the recent literature exploring its use in different settings and patient populations.
Recent findings
The limited sensitivity of chest radiography in the diagnosis of
pneumonia has been well described. Ultrasound is an attractive option because of its low cost, lack of ionizing radiation, portability, and repeatability. An alveolar or focal interstitial pattern has been described as the usual sonographic findings in
pneumonia. Multiple studies have compared LUS with chest radiography in
pneumonia, and have shown that LUS is at least equivalent, and in many instances superior, to chest radiography.
Summary
Point of care LUS is an invaluable tool in the diagnosis of multiple pulmonary conditions, including
pneumonia. Its use in real time with clinical correlation makes it an ideal tool for rapid diagnosis, especially in situations with unstable patients or in low-resource settings.
