Abstract
The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the burden of stress on the global healthcare system in 2020. Point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) is used effectively in the management of pulmonary, cardiac and vascular pathologies. POCUS is the use of traditional ultrasound imaging techniques in a focused binary manner to answer a specific set of clinical questions. This is an imaging technique that delivers no radiation, is inexpensive, ultraportable and provides results instantaneously to the physician operator at the bedside. In regard to the pandemic, PoCUS has played a significant adjunctive role in the diagnosis and management of co-morbidities associated with COVID-19. PoCUS also offers an alternative method to image obstetric patients and the pediatric population safely in accordance with the ALARA principle. Finally, there have been numerous PoCUS protocols describing the effective use of this technology during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
COVID-19 is a novel virus from the coronavirus family
Point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) refers to the act of using ultrasound during a standard clinical assessment as an adjuvant diagnostic tool
An ultrasound device may act as a fomite for COVID-19, following a simple checklist can assist physicians in the disinfection process to safely reduce contamination (Table 1) [11, 15,16,17,18]
Summary
COVID-19 is a novel virus from the coronavirus family. It has a mean incubation period of 4–5 days [1, 2] COVID-19 spreads via respiratory droplets from person-toperson and causes an acute respiratory illness [3]. PoCUS refers to the act of using ultrasound during a standard clinical assessment as an adjuvant diagnostic tool. Ultrasonography has proven to be an alternative solution in offering a safe and quick first-line bedside diagnostic exam for COVID-19 lung, cardiac and venous thromboembolic manifestations [10,11,12]. The implications of PoCUS in the management of COVID-19 patients will be explored
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