Level of knowledge of health professionals on lung ultrasound

Abstract

Introduction: lung ultrasound is gaining importance in emergency and intensive care services for the diagnosis and monitoring of respiratory and cardiac pathologies, such as congestive heart failure and pneumonia, being especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several protocols are mentioned that include lung ultrasound for the management of critical patients in emergencies, such as RUSH, FATE and E-FAST, as well as the BLUE protocol for the evaluation of the pulmonary window in critical patients with respiratory failure. Objective: to determine the knowledge of the use of lung ultrasound in physicians in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas. Method: an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in the city of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, belonging to the country of Ecuador in the period of the year 2022. The universe was made up of 19 health professionals who reside in areas of emergency hospitals, ICU and outpatient clinics. Results: the majority of participants agree that lung ultrasound is useful for the daily performance of medical activity. Despite this, almost half of the participants acknowledge that they have not participated in related training. Participants also acknowledge that the use of lung ultrasound should not be restricted to specialized professionals. Conclusions: the usefulness of lung ultrasound is valuable in clinical practice as a complementary tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of various diseases, well identified and recognized by the physicians participating in the study.