Sensitivity of lung ultrasound for the detection of pneumothorax one day after pulmonary resection—a prospective observational study
- Resource Type
- Original Paper
- Authors
- Galetin, Thomas; Schieren, Mark; Marks, Benjamin; Defosse, Jerome; Stoelben, Erich
- Source
- European Surgery: Acta Chirurgica Austriaca. 53(1):23-28
- Subject
- Diagnostic accuracy
Sensitivity
Lung ultrasound
Chest X‑ray
Pneumothorax
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1682-8631
1682-4016
Summary: Background: Chest X‑ray (CXR) after thoracic surgery contributes to patient discomfort and costs and is of limited therapeutic value. Lung ultrasound (LU) for pneumothorax may be an alternative to CXR, but diagnostic accuracy data are heterogeneous and biased by insufficient sonographic technique and patient selection. Reported sensitivities range from 0.21 to 1.0. We evaluated the sensitivity of LU on the first day after thoracic surgery under routine conditions.Methods: We performed a prospective observational study (trial-ID DRKS00014557). Consecutive patients undergoing lung resection received standardized LU in addition to routine CXR on the first postoperative day. Ultrasound examiner and radiologist were blinded to corresponding X‑ray and ultrasound findings. CXR was used as reference to determine diagnostic test performance of ultrasound. The conformity of sonography- and routine-based therapeutic decisions was evaluated.Results: A total of 68 patients were examined. The mean duration of ultrasound was 145 ± 64 s. CXR identified 23 patients with pneumothorax with a mean apex-to-cupola size of 1.5 ± 1.0 cm. Ultrasound detected 18 patients with pneumothorax. The computed sensitivity of LU was 0.48 (95% confidence interval [0.36; 0.60]). Specificity was between 0.81 and 1.0, the negative predictive value 0.76 [0.66; 0.86]. The sensitivity of CXR was 0.56 [0.44; 0.68]. Air leakage via chest tube correlated weakly with CXR (spearman’s rho = 0.26) and moderately with LU (rho = 0.43). The conformity between sonographically based recommendations and the actual therapy based on routine diagnostics was 96%.Conclusions: Sensitivity of ultrasound for pneumothorax detection nearly reached CXR and resulted in equally safe patient management. Our data can serve as a pilot study for upcoming larger-scaled controlled trials.