19 February, 2024
There is a new CME Online module now available on the ERS Respiratory Channel: ‘Chest x-rays in the ICU’.
This module is led by Dr Carole Ridge and co-directed by Dr Ádám Tárnokil and Prof. Sujal Desai. The module will be most relevant to pulmonary and intensive care physicians.
Radiographic examination of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is often necessary to follow the patient’s progress or changes in status after admission or after surgery. Radiographic examinations exist to evaluate the course of the primary disease and to diagnose complications that may ensue.
The directors of this module discuss the key uses and challenges that clinicians may encounter when evaluating the radiograph of an acutely ill patient in the ICU including pulmonary/pleural findings and device malposition.
The learning objectives of the module are to identify key findings in the ICU patient such as pulmonary oedema, pneumothorax, and ARDS; to understand the different appearance of pleural disease in a supine or semi-erect patient; and to correctly identify malposition which, if undiagnosed, can lead to long term complications.