# Role of Lung Ultrasonography in Acute Respiratory Distress in Pediatric Age Group: A Prospective Single-Centre Study

## TL;DR

This study shows that lung ultrasound can effectively diagnose acute respiratory diseases in children and may replace chest X-rays.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates the diagnostic utility of lung ultrasound in pediatric acute respiratory diseases.

## Key findings

- Most participants were under one year old, with bronchiolitis and LRIs being the most common diagnoses.
- USG findings were statistically significant across clinical diagnoses (p-value < 0.05).
- LUS can replace X-rays for diagnosing acute respiratory diseases in children.

## Abstract

Introduction

Lung diseases are the most frequently encountered form of diseases primarily affecting infants under one year of age. Although the chest X-ray is the first modality of choice, ultrasonography (USG) has emerged as an alternative. Lung ultrasound (LUS) finds its application in the evaluation of several pediatric lung diseases.

Objective

To assess the use of LUS in acute lower respiratory infections and assess the correlation between etiological diagnosis and radiological diagnosis.

Methods

This was a hospital-based prospective observational study conducted with children presenting with upper respiratory infections. Around 97 children were included in the study. Clinical diagnosis was made by the pediatrician. LUS was performed by a trained radiologist, using the two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound mode and motion mode (M mode) to assess the LUS in the respective areas of the chest, thereby assessing bilateral lung fields for these patients.

Results

The majority of our study participants were under one year old (87%), and more than half were male (55%). Bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract infections (LRIs) were the most commonly seen clinical diagnoses. The distribution of USG findings was statistically significant across the clinical diagnosis (p-value < 0.05).

Conclusion

Our study found that LUS can serve as an important tool for diagnosing several acute respiratory diseases. It also showed that LUS can replace X-rays in cases of children diagnosed with acute respiratory diseases.