Point-Of-Care Ultrasound-Driven vs Standard Diagnostic Pathway in Emergency Department Patients With Dyspnea

The POCUS PATHWAY-trial is a multi-center, randomized, investigator-initiated, open labelled, pragmatic, controlled trial of a point-of-care ultrasound-driven diagnostic pathway vs standard diagnostic pathway in dyspneic emergency department patients. The primary outcome will be 24-hour hospital stay and 642 patients will be included. Key secondary outcomes include overall hospital length of stay, image resources, and 72-hour revisits.

Inclusion Criteria:Emergency department contactAge ≥ 18 yearsChief complaint is DyspneaIncluding physician presentExclusion Criteria:Fulfilling of criteria for coded rapid-response teams (i.e., trauma, surgical or medical emergencies).Prior focused lung or focused cardiac ultrasound in the current emergency department stayPrior enrollment in the trialUnable to consentNon Danish-speaking