EC Paediatrics

Lung ultrasound (LUS) is gaining increasing adaptation in neonatal units worldwide for the evaluation and management of neonatal respiratory disorders. Neonatologist performed lung ultrasound (NPLUS) is a bedside, repeatable, cost effective, safe and quick modality of understanding and managing neonatal respiratory disorders. In some neonatal units in Europe and China who have the requisite level and spread of expertise, NPLUS has eliminated the need for routine X-Ray (XR) Chest examinations in the neonatal unit. LUS must be compared to as a provision of a 3-dimensional computerized tomography (CT) lung scan equivalent imaging technique by the bedside. As the confidence and experience of the neonatal team in NPLUS matures, NPLUS will lead to minimizing XR chest requests with the resultant benefits of significant cost savings, reduction of radiation risk and a reliable real time bedside objective guide towards identification prognostication and targeted management of neonatal respiratory distress.

 Keywords: Lung Ultrasound; Respiratory Diseases; Prematurity; Neonate; Artefacts

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