Preferred view and transducer in lumbar ultrasound in overweight and obese patients.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound can be used to facilitate lumbar puncture, especially in obese patients.

METHODS: In this study, midline and paramedian approaches with curved and linear transducers were compared in patients with Body Mass Index (BMI) above 25 kg/m2 for the identification of spinal landmarks. In each view, six major landmarks, including spinous process, ligamentum flavum, laminae, epidural space, subarachnoid space and posterior longitudinal ligament, were detected by emergency medicine residents and were then reviewed by radiologists.

RESULTS: Sixty patients with a mean BMI of 29.18 enrolled in the study. This study showed that a curved transducer detected major landmarks more accurately compared to a linear transducer. There was also a poor kappa correlation between these transducers in the midline and paramedian approaches.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that ultrasound can detect lumbar landmarks in overweight and obese patients, with the paramedian approach and a curved transducer being superior to the midline approach and a linear transducer in detecting these landmarks.