SonoTip: Da Spine Sign: Dont miss that Pleural Effusion on the FAST scan!

I call it “Da Spine Sign” (insert any accent here – trust me, its funny). So, fluid is the lover of ultrasound, right? And air is the enemy. Typically you will not see the spine passed the diaphragm when looking at your RUQ view for your FAST scan in normal patients, but oh when you do, BAM! You know there’s fluid in the thorax. Here’s an image showing exactly that, as well as a little somethin’ somethin’ in the intraperitoneal space… so, don’t forget to look above the diaphragm in your FAST scan views! By the way – it’s also called the V-Line – I like my name better 🙂