Submitted by Dr. Joana Ayuk, a third-year pediatric resident, Cameroon
As a Pediatrics resident I decided to study POCUS because I realized how limited it was to rely solely on X-ray (chest X-ray particularly) for diagnosis, especially while managing unstable patients. So during one of my practical sessions, I performed a lung POCUS in a 14 year old adolescent who was treated for bilateral pneumonia, which was obvious on his initial chest X-ray.
Despite proper management, his respiratory distress worsened especially when he laid down. So during my scan, lung POCUS was positive for bilateral pneumonia but surprisingly he had a moderate circumferential pericardial effusion. It explained his clinical state.
He was immediately transferred to the cardio thoracic service where a drainage was done. The fluid was purulent. Upon this new management, his respiratory distress subsided and with in 24 hours, his oxygen supply was reduced and a few days later, he was discharged.
POCUS helped save this boy’s life because it accurately saw where the anomaly was within minutes and completely changed the disease outcome.
Being in a low resource setting, I strongly believe POCUS is one of the indispensable tools we need to improve patient diagnosis and management in a setting where access to superior diagnostic tools aren’t always readily available.
Has POCUS impacted the care you provided to a patient? Has it altered the course of treatment or helped you to diagnose?
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