What is the ideal approach for emergent pericardiocentesis using point-of-care ultrasound guidance?

Lori Stolz, Elaine Situ-LaCasse, Josie Acuña, Matthew Thompson, Nicolaus Hawbaker, Josephine Valenzuela, Uwe Stolz, Srikar Adhikari

Table 1 Mean skin-to-pericardial fluid distance for each of the echocardiographic views

Echocardiographic view Mean skin-to-pericardial fluid distance, cm Subxiphoid 5.6 (95% CI 5.2-6.0) Parasternal 2.7 (95% CI 2.5-2.8) Apical 2.5 (95% CI 2.3-2.7)