Reliability of Diaphragm Ultrasound: Intra- and Interrater Analysis

Ultrasound assessment of the diaphragm is a portable and non-invasive option for assessing and monitoring diaphragmatic function. The diaphragm is the main muscle used for breathing. It is a muscular organ that lies in between the thorax (chest) and abdomen. By moving up and down, it helps in our breathing by aiding both the right and the left lung to inflate and deflate. Assessing diaphragmatic function provides meaningful information in the setting of chronic lung diseases, obesity and diseases of nerve and muscle dysfunction and in assessing the diaphragmatic function before and after surgery. However, ultrasound assessment of the diaphragm on the left side of chest is sometimes difficult or impossible in a large proportion of patients.

There are currently three ultrasound methods to examine the diaphragm, and to date, it is not clear which technique should be used as the most reliable method. The purpose of this research study is to find out how much reliable the different ultrasound methods are in assessing the movement of the diaphragm during respiration.

In this study, two anesthesiologists blinded to one another's scan results, will perform ultrasound scan of the diaphragm using three different methods and the measurements will be analyzed to see the reliability of each method. The investigators believe that the results of this study can guide medical professionals in selecting an ultrasound method that will give consistent results and a more reliable way to examine the diaphragm, especially on the left side of the chest.

• To measure the intra-rater reliability of the excursion of the dome of the diaphragm (DOD) [Срок оценки: Through study completion, an average of 2 years]
• To measure the inter-rater reliability of the excursion of the dome of the diaphragm (DOD) [Срок оценки: Through study completion, an average of 2 years]
• To measure intra-rater reliability of the Thickening Fraction, (TF) of the ZOA [Срок оценки: Through study completion, an average of 2 years]
• To measure inter-rater reliability of the Thickening Fraction, (TF) of the ZOA [Срок оценки: Through study completion, an average of 2 years]
• To measure the distribution of diaphragmatic measurements obtained for the ZOA method (Excursion of the ZOA) [Срок оценки: Through study completion, an average of 2 years]
• To measure the distribution of diaphragmatic measurements obtained for the DOD method [Срок оценки: Through study completion, an average of 2 years]
• To measure the distribution of diaphragmatic measurements obtained for the Thickening Fraction method (TF of the ZOA) [Срок оценки: Through study completion, an average of 2 years]