Chest. 2020 Sep 21:S0012-3692(20)34501-3. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2020.09.083. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Emergency airway management (EAM) is associated with a high rate of complications, morbidity and mortality. Handheld point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) shows promise as an emerging technology to facilitate rapid screening for difficult laryngoscopy, identify the cricothyroid membrane (CTM) for potential cricothyroidotomy, assess for increased aspiration risk, as well as provide confirmation of proper endotracheal tube (ETT) positioning. This review summarizes the available evidence for the use of POCUS in EAM, provides an algorithm to facilitate its incorporation into existing EAM practice to improve patient safety and serve as a framework for future validation studies.
PMID:32971075 | DOI:10.1016/j.chest.2020.09.083