Point-of-care Ultrasound and Dyspnea in the Emergency Department

Dyspnea causes one in ten visits to the emergency department (ED), and half of the patients require hospitalization for 2 to 7 days. Discharge diagnoses commonly include ‘Dyspnea - not otherwise specified’, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, heart failure, pulmonary embolism, and asthma. One out of twenty patients die during hospitalization, and one in ten dies within 30 days after discharge. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) plays an increasing role in the initial diagnostic work-up of these patients and can help diagnose several of the common conditions causing dyspnea. Despite its everyday occurrence, surprisingly little is known about how the diagnostic work contributes to the health of the patients, and the adoption of POCUS, in this regard, tends to vary considerably between physicians.