The BLUE-protocol is an ultrasound approach to the lung,
and venous network, allowing fast diagnosis of acute respiratory failure.
It combines signs with locations, yielding 8 specific profiles.
Where to apply the probe: the BLUE-points
Two hands (of the size of that of the patient) are posed thus, starting from the clavicle. The medium of the higher hand determines the upper BLUE-point. Medium of the lower palm, the lower BLUE-point.
Leaving the lower BLUE-point transversely, a line crosses the posterior line axillaire. This crossing, or most subsequently possible, defines the PLAPS-point .
|The 8 BLUE-profiles (with
- A-profile (with DVT, usually pulmonary embolism)
- B-profile (usually hemodynamic pulmonary edema)
- B'-profile (usually pneumonia)
- A'-profile (usually pneumothorax)
- C-profile (usually pneumonia)
- A/B-profile (usually pneumonia)
- A-V-PLAPS profile (usually pneumonia)
- Nude profile (usually asthma and COPD)
|The decision tree of
- The original article: Relevance of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of acute respiratory failure. The BLUE-protocol. Chest 2008;134:117-125
- The textbook: Whole Body Ultrasonography in the Critically Ill (Springer, 2010), page 194
- The textbook: Lung Ultrasound in the Critically III - the BLUE-protocol (Springer, 2016)