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Better With Ultrasound: Pleural Procedures in Critically Ill Patients. Procedures designed to drain fluid or air from the pleural spaces can be technically challenging in patients who are critically ill, and are associated with significant complications. Many individual ultrasound techniques have been described, each with the goal of making pleural drainage procedures safer. This article presents a systemic approach for incorporating many of these tools into procedures such as diagnostic thoracentesis, therapeutic drainage, and pleural catheter insertion. A series of illustrative figures and narrated video presentations are included to demonstrate many of the described techniques.