TY - JOUR
T1 - Use of neonatal lung ultrasound in European neonatal units
T2 - a survey by the European Society of Paediatric Research
AU - Alonso-Ojembarrena, Almudena
AU - Ehrhardt, Harald
AU - Cetinkaya, Merih
AU - Lavizzari, Anna
AU - Szczapa, Tomasz
AU - Sartorius, Victor
AU - Rocha, Gustavo
AU - Sindelar, Richard
AU - Wald, Martin
AU - Heiring, Christian
AU - Soukka, Hanna
AU - Danhaive, Olivier
AU - Roehr, Charles C
AU - Cucerea, Manuela
AU - Calkovska, Andrea
AU - Dimitriou, Gabriel
AU - Barzilay, Bernard
AU - Klingenberg, Claus
AU - Schulzke, Sven
AU - Plavka, Richard
AU - Tameliene, Rasa
AU - O'Donnell, Colm Patrick Finbarr
AU - van Kaam, Anton H
AU - ESPR Pulmonary Research Consortium
N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2024/10/18
Y1 - 2024/10/18
N2 - OBJECTIVE: Regarding the use of lung ultrasound (LU) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across Europe, to assess how widely it is used, for what indications and how its implementation might be improved.DESIGN AND INTERVENTION: International online survey.RESULTS: Replies were received from 560 NICUs in 24 countries between January and May 2023. LU uptake varied considerably (20%-98% of NICUs) between countries. In 428 units (76%), LU was used for clinical indications, while 34 units (6%) only used it for research purposes. One-third of units had <2 years of experience, and only 71 units (13%) had >5 years of experience. LU was mainly performed by neonatologists. LU was most frequently used to diagnose respiratory diseases (68%), to evaluate an infant experiencing acute clinical deterioration (53%) and to guide surfactant treatment (39%). The main pathologies diagnosed by LU were pleural effusion, pneumothorax, transient tachypnoea of the newborn and respiratory distress syndrome. The main barriers for implementation were lack of experience with technical aspects and/or image interpretation. Most units indicated that specific courses and an international guideline on neonatal LU could promote uptake of this technique.CONCLUSIONS: Although LU has been adopted in neonatal care in most European countries, the uptake is highly variable. The main indications are diagnosis of lung disease, evaluation of acute clinical deterioration and guidance of surfactant. Implementation may be improved by developing courses and publishing an international guideline.
AB - OBJECTIVE: Regarding the use of lung ultrasound (LU) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across Europe, to assess how widely it is used, for what indications and how its implementation might be improved.DESIGN AND INTERVENTION: International online survey.RESULTS: Replies were received from 560 NICUs in 24 countries between January and May 2023. LU uptake varied considerably (20%-98% of NICUs) between countries. In 428 units (76%), LU was used for clinical indications, while 34 units (6%) only used it for research purposes. One-third of units had <2 years of experience, and only 71 units (13%) had >5 years of experience. LU was mainly performed by neonatologists. LU was most frequently used to diagnose respiratory diseases (68%), to evaluate an infant experiencing acute clinical deterioration (53%) and to guide surfactant treatment (39%). The main pathologies diagnosed by LU were pleural effusion, pneumothorax, transient tachypnoea of the newborn and respiratory distress syndrome. The main barriers for implementation were lack of experience with technical aspects and/or image interpretation. Most units indicated that specific courses and an international guideline on neonatal LU could promote uptake of this technique.CONCLUSIONS: Although LU has been adopted in neonatal care in most European countries, the uptake is highly variable. The main indications are diagnosis of lung disease, evaluation of acute clinical deterioration and guidance of surfactant. Implementation may be improved by developing courses and publishing an international guideline.
KW - intensive care units, neonatal
KW - neonatology
KW - respiratory medicine
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85191394826
U2 - 10.1136/archdischild-2024-327068
DO - 10.1136/archdischild-2024-327068
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 38604653
SN - 1359-2998
VL - 109
SP - 660
EP - 664
JO - Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition
JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition
IS - 6
M1 - 327068
ER -