Point-of-Care Ultrasound: A Vital Tool for Anesthesiologists in the Perioperative and Critical Care Settings

Abstract

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is an essential skill in various specialties like anesthesiology, critical care, and emergency medicine. Anesthesiologists utilize POCUS for quick diagnosis and procedural guidance in perioperative and critical care settings. Key applications include vascular ultrasound for challenging venous and arterial catheter placements, gastric ultrasound for aspiration risk assessment, airway ultrasound, diaphragm ultrasound, and lung ultrasound for respiratory assessment. Additional utilities of POCUS can include multi-organ POCUS evaluation for undifferentiated shock or cardiac arrest, ultrasound-guided central neuraxial and peripheral nerve blocks, focused cardiac ultrasound, and novel applications such as venous excess ultrasound. This review highlights these POCUS applications in perioperative and intensive care and summarizes the latest evidence of their accuracy and limitations.

Keywords: airway ultrasound; anaesthesiology; bedside ultrasound; gastric ultrasound; perioperative pocus; pocus (point of care ultrasound).