Assessing the accuracy of pleural puncture sites in patients with pleural effusion as determined by clinical examination versus ultrasound-A single-centre prospective study.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to ascertain the accuracy of clinical examination for the determination of pleural puncture sites as compared to the use of ultrasonography in patients with pleural effusion.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A single-centre, prospective, observational study was carried out amongst 115 patients with pleural effusion in a tertiary care hospital in western India. Patients were subjected to clinical assessment for determination of pleural puncture sites and the same were confirmed with ultrasonography. All physicians were blinded to the marking of the previous physician to prevent any influence on their assessment.

RESULTS: The study had 345 physician observations. The overall accuracy of the clinical examination was 94.8%. Multivariate logistic regression of the factors responsible for the accuracy of clinical examination demonstrated a significant role of higher body mass index (BMI) (OR-1.19) and lower zone pleural effusions (OR-4.99) when adjusted for age, gender, side of effusion, and experience of examining doctors. When the effusions were classified according to their location, lower zone pleural effusions and loculated pleural effusions had an error rate of 15.9% and 8.33%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: An ultrasound is the standard of care to assess all pleural effusions and guide the best point for aspiration.