High correlation of lung ultrasound and chest X-ray after tube drainage in patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax: can we omit X-rays for tube management?

Background Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is a common medical condition in the emergency department. Clinically stable patients with large pneumothoraces usually undergo chest tube drainage. During the course of hospital stay, several chest X-rays are ordered at various time points. Because the number of chest X-rays during diagnosis and management of PSP can be quite high and lung ultrasound has a proven efficacy for the assessment of lung re-expansion, we decided to investigate the use of lung ultrasound for the management and decision-making regarding chest drains for PSP.