Malignant pleural effusion found on bedside ultrasound: A case report highlighting the use of point-of-care ultrasound in the undifferentiated dyspneic patient in the emergency department.
ePoster
Authors: Adriana Padilla, University of Central Florida / HCA North Florida Regional Diana Mora, North Florida Joshua Middleton, UCF North Florida
You walk into a room and you see a patient in acute respiratory distress. The patient is tachypneic, tachycardic, diaphoretic, they are unable to speak in full sentences, they appear altered, and they are saturating at 84% on room air. Emergency medical services paramedic states they received a call for shortness of breath and were unable to obtain additional history due to the patient's current condition. What do you do? What is your approach? Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a tool that should be used to help providers narrow their broad differential in just a few minutes. Within a few minutes, providers have the ability to rule out emergencies that are important to identify quickly and accurately in the Emergency Department such as pneumothorax, hemothorax, large pleural effusions, pulmonary vascular congestion, or pericardial effusion - just to name a few. POCUS is also still an important tool for patients who are not in acute distress as it still helps the clinician diagnose quickly, provide accurate treatment to patients, and expedite ultimate disposition. Further imaging studies such as chest x-rays and computed tomography (CT) scans aid in the diagnosis, but can delay diagnosis and may require patients to be stable prior to transport.