Postoperative chest ultrasound findings and effectiveness after thoracic surgery: A pilot study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the information from post-operative chest ultrasound (CU) to evaluate the possibility to use this method instead of chest X-ray (CXR) after thoracic surgery. Patients who underwent thoracic surgery were evaluated with CU blinded to CXR after surgery, deciding if it was useful or CU was exhaustive. Twenty-four patients were enrolled prospectively. The CU allowed a further discrimination of the lung abnormalities, discriminating between atelectasis, infections or hematoma. CXR was required in only 5 cases due to the presence of massive subcutaneous emphysema or absence of lung point. In the remaining 19 cases, CU was considered exhaustive and effective. In particular, CU was considered exhaustive in 67% of cases after open surgery and in 85% of cases after video-assisted thoracic surgery. In conclusion, CU appears to be effective in post-operative management after thoracic surgery and it can increase the diagnostic accuracy reducing any unnecessary X-ray exposure.

Keywords: Chest X-ray; Chest ultrasound; Thoracic surgery; Wedge sign.