Need for Objective Assessment of Volume Status in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19: The Tri-POCUS Approach. Cardiorenal Med 2020;10(4):209-216
Date
05/28/2020Pubmed ID
32460302Pubmed Central ID
PMC7316643DOI
10.1159/000508544Abstract
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread across the globe, the knowledge of its epidemiology, clinical features, and management is rapidly evolving. Nevertheless, the data on optimal fluid management strategies for those who develop critical illness remain sparse. Adding to the challenge, the fluid volume status of these patients has been found to be dynamic. Some present with several days of malaise, gastrointestinal symptoms, and consequent hypovolemia requiring aggressive fluid resuscitation, while a subset develop acute respiratory distress syndrome with renal dysfunction and lingering congestion necessitating restrictive fluid management. Accurate objective assessment of volume status allows physicians to tailor the fluid management goals throughout this wide spectrum of critical illness. Conventional point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) enables the reliable assessment of fluid status and reducing the staff exposure. However, due to specific characteristics of COVID-19 (e.g., rapidly expanding lung lesions), a single imaging method such as lung POCUS will have significant limitations. Herein, we suggest a Tri-POCUS approach that represents concurrent bedside assessment of the lungs, heart, and the venous system. This combinational approach is likely to overcome the limitations of the individual methods and provide a more precise evaluation of the volume status in critically ill patients with COVID-19.
Author List
Koratala A, Ronco C, Kazory AAuthor
Abhilash Koratala MD Assistant Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Acute Kidney InjuryBetacoronavirus
Coronavirus Infections
Critical Illness
Humans
Hypovolemia
Male
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral
Point-of-Care Systems
Ultrasonography
