Feasability of Lung Ultrasonography in General Practice

A major barrier to ultrasonography in general practice (GP) is the time restriction of their medical consultation. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of lung ultrasonography (LUS) realized by general practitioners (GP's) into their medical consultation.

A prospective, observational, multi-centric and open study conducted in 3 different centers by 15 GP in France. Patient receiving LUS were recruited from December 2019 to January 2020. GP's were all novices and received a training course by LUS expert before the study. Eight-points LUS exam was recorded, timed, and interpreted by GP's.

Among the 111 LUS performed, 110 LUS were interpreted. Time duration was 4 (3-5) min with 13% of LUS superior to 5 minutes. There was no significant difference in time duration after stratification by age. Patients were mainly satisfied after receiving LUS, and 80% of patients had a better understanding about their disease due to US realization.

In this first prospective, and multicenter study, involving patients consulting in General Practice, we found that LUS seems to be feasible by GP's in a medical consultation. We showed that LUS can be performed fast enough for a GP consultation, and easy to learn. These findings will need to be valided in a randomized and controlled study.