WAVELENGTHTUNE IN · GAIN CLARITY

Wavelength Academy · Airway

Ultrasound around the airway: stomach, tube, lungs and diaphragm

Four quick scans around intubation and ventilation: is the stomach full, is the tube in the trachea, are both lungs ventilated, and is the diaphragm working? Learn what each scan answers, and what it cannot.

  • 1 hour CPD
  • 5 lessons
  • 4 cases
  • 12-question assessment
  • Pass mark 80%
  • Free

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What you will learn

  • Classify gastric contents as empty, clear fluid or solid, and use the result in the aspiration-risk assessment
  • Identify tracheal and oesophageal intubation on neck ultrasound, alongside waveform capnography
  • Use lung sliding and the lung pulse to detect main bronchus intubation and pneumothorax after intubation
  • Assess diaphragm movement and recognise weakness or paralysis
  • Document airway ultrasound findings and their limits

Lessons

  1. Context: four questions around the airway6 min
  2. The stomach: empty, fluid or solid12 min
  3. The tube: one tract or two12 min
  4. The lungs after intubation10 min
  5. The diaphragm: watch the sniff12 min
  6. Cases8 min
  7. Final assessment: 12 questions, pass mark 80%7 min

Who it is for

Emergency, acute, critical care and anaesthetic doctors, advanced clinical practitioners and physician associates involved in sedation, intubation or ventilation.

Your certificate

Pass the assessment and we email your certificate as a PDF: your name, the module, 1 hour of CPD, the date and a code anyone can check at thewavelength.co.uk/elearning/verify. Upload it to your e-portfolio with a short reflection. Wavelength issues the certificate itself. It is not accredited by an external body, so record the hours as self-directed CPD under your own college or regulator's rules. The certificate records completed learning. Sign-off to scan independently stays with your department.

About this module

Author. Dr Firas Abou-Auda, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Course Director, Wavelength.
Published. October 2026. Next review. October 2028.
Conflicts of interest. Dr Firas Abou-Auda is Course Director of Wavelength, which runs paid ultrasound courses.

References

  1. Van de Putte P, Perlas A. Ultrasound assessment of gastric content and volume. British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2014.
  2. Chou HC, et al. Tracheal rapid ultrasound exam (T.R.U.E.) for confirming endotracheal tube placement during emergency intubation. Resuscitation. 2011.
  3. Chrimes N, et al. Preventing unrecognised oesophageal intubation: a consensus guideline from the Project for Universal Management of Airways and international airway societies. Anaesthesia. 2022.
  4. Volpicelli G, et al. International evidence-based recommendations for point-of-care lung ultrasound. Intensive Care Medicine. 2012;38:577.
  5. Boussuges A, et al. Diaphragmatic motion studied by M-mode ultrasonography: methods, reproducibility, and normal values. Chest. 2009.
  6. Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Point-of-care ultrasound appendix to the RCEM curriculum.

Read the free Wavelength Pearl on this topic