Point-of-Care Ultrasound in the Evaluation of COVID-19

J Emerg Med. 2020 Sep;59(3):403-408. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2020.06.032. Epub 2020 Jun 12.

Abstract

Background: The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has caused a pandemic, overwhelming health care systems around the world. Hospitals around the world, including the United States, have been struggling to adapt to the influx of patients with COVID-19, the illness caused by SARS-CoV2, given limited resources and high demand for medical care.

Objectives: This article seeks to provide emergency physicians with a guide to sonographic findings in COVID-19 and an algorithm by which point-of-care lung ultrasound may assist emergency physicians caring for these patients during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Discussion: The studies currently being published have established a typical set of ultrasound findings in COVID-19. Point-of-care lung ultrasound is rapid and accessible in most emergency departments in the United States, and even in many resource-poor settings.

Conclusion: Point-of-care ultrasound provides numerous benefits to emergency providers caring for patients with COVID-19, including decreasing resource utilization, assisting in diagnosis, guiding management of the critically ill patient, and aiding in rapid triage of patients under investigations for COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Covid; coronavirus; emergency ultrasound; lung ultrasound; point of care ultrasound; thoracic ultrasound.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnostic imaging*
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
  • Delivery of Health Care / organization & administration
  • Disease Transmission, Infectious / prevention & control
  • Emergency Service, Hospital / organization & administration*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infection Control / methods
  • Male
  • Occupational Health
  • Pandemics / prevention & control
  • Pandemics / statistics & numerical data
  • Patient Safety
  • Pneumonia, Viral / diagnostic imaging*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
  • Point-of-Care Systems / organization & administration*
  • Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / diagnostic imaging*
  • Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / epidemiology
  • Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / physiopathology
  • Ultrasonography, Doppler / methods
  • Ultrasonography, Doppler / statistics & numerical data*