J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2006 Oct;17(5):493-499.

Approximation of the Size of Pneumothorax by Ultrasound for Patients with a Possibility of Pneumothorax

• Kim KY
• Kim JJ
• Hyun SY
• Kim JK
• Lee JK
• Yang HJ
• Lee G
• Hwang SY

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of ultrasound in detecting and estimating the size of pneumothorax
METHODS
This was a prospective study with convenience sampling, based on researcher availability. Inclusion criteria were chest pain, sudden dyspnea, and chest trauma. Bedside ultrasound examination was performed to determine the presence of "lung sliding" and "comet tail" artifacts in order to rule out pneumothorax and the location of "lung point" when pneumothorax was detected.
RESULTS
There were 97 patients enrolled; The cause of pneumothorax was spontaneous in 64 cases and traumatic in 33 cases. The Pearson correlation coefficient between ultrasound estimates and pneumothorax size by Collins method on erect chest X-ray was 0.874 (p<0.000), and the coefficient between ultrasound estimates and pneumothorax size on computed tomography was 0.820 (p<0.000).
CONCLUSION
Ultrasound is more sensitive and specific than supine chest X-ray and even erect chest PA for the diagnosis of pneumothorax. Ultrasound allowed skilled physicians to approximate the size of pneumothorax accurately with good correlation with results obtained by both computed tomography and erect chest X-ray.

Keyword

Pneumothorax; Ultrasonography

MeSH Terms

Artifacts
Chest Pain
Diagnosis
Dyspnea
Humans
Pneumothorax*
Prospective Studies
Thorax
Ultrasonography*