POCUS does not replace formal radiology but it can reduce the need for it in many urgent clinical situations, and it has significant advantages in children.
For lung assessment, POCUS has been shown to match or exceed chest X-ray accuracy for diagnosing pneumonia, pleural effusion, and pneumothorax in appropriate hands. For suspected intussusception, POCUS is the diagnostic investigation of choice and avoids radiation entirely. For cardiac assessment in emergency settings, POCUS provides immediate information about function and fluid around the heart that cannot be obtained from a chest X-ray at all. CT scanning, which delivers the highest radiation dose, can often be avoided in children whose urgent clinical question can be answered by POCUS. Where a comprehensive organ assessment or complex pathology characterisation is needed, formal radiology remains the appropriate investigation and I always refer when the clinical question requires it.
Written by Dr Chhaya Pathak, MBBS, MD (Pediatrics), Senior Consultant Paediatrician and Co-Founder, Vatsalya Children's Hospital, Mahavir Road, Orderly Bazar, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221002. Pioneer of Paediatric Point-of-Care Ultrasonography (POCUS) in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
