Best Practice Recommendations for Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasound in Patients with Suspected COVID-19

Lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a critical tool for evaluating patients with dyspnea in the emergency department (ED), including patients with suspected coronavirus disease (COVID)-19. However, given the threat of nosocomial disease spread, the use of ultrasound is no longer risk free. Here...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of emergency medicine 2020-10, Vol.59 (4), p.515-520
Main Authors: Duggan, Nicole M., Shokoohi, Hamid, Liteplo, Andrew S., Huang, Calvin, Goldsmith, Andrew J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clinical Protocols
Clinical Review
coronavirus
COVID-19
COVID-19 - diagnostic imaging
Emergency Service, Hospital
Humans
Infection Control - standards
lung
Patient Positioning
POCUS
Point-of-Care Systems
safety
Safety Management
SARS-CoV-2
Ultrasonography - standards
ultrasound
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Summary:Lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a critical tool for evaluating patients with dyspnea in the emergency department (ED), including patients with suspected coronavirus disease (COVID)-19. However, given the threat of nosocomial disease spread, the use of ultrasound is no longer risk free. Here, we review the lung POCUS findings in patients with COVID-19. In doing so we present a scanning protocol for lung POCUS in COVID-19 that maximizes clinical utility and provider safety. In COVID-19 lung, POCUS findings are predominantly located in the posterior and lateral lung zones bilaterally. A six-zone scanning protocol that prioritizes obtaining images in these locations optimizes provider positioning, and minimizes time spent scanning, which can reduce risk to health care workers performing POCUS. Lung POCUS can offer valuable clinical data when evaluating patients with COVID-19. Scanning protocols such as that presented here, which target clinical utility and decreased nosocomial disease spread, must be prioritized.
ISSN:0736-4679
2352-5029
0736-4679
DOI:10.1016/j.jemermed.2020.06.033