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Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) and Its Potential to Advance Patient Care in Low-Resource Settings and Conflict Zones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2023

Elad Dana ,
A.D. Mahamat Nour ,
Gombako A. Kpa’Hanba  and
James S. Khan
Elad Dana*
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel, Affiliated to the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
A.D. Mahamat Nour
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of N’Djamena, N’Djamena, Chad
Gombako A. Kpa’Hanba
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of N’Djamena, N’Djamena, Chad
James S. Khan
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada Department of Anesthesia, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
*
Corresponding author: Elad Dana; Email: elad.dana@sinaihealth.ca.
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Abstract

Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) is used by health care professionals of various specialties worldwide, with excellent results demonstrating significant potential to advance patient care. However, in low resource areas of the world, where other imaging modalities are scarce and the potential of handheld pocket-sized PoCUS devices with great versatility and increasing affordability seems most significant, its use is far from being widespread. In this report, our group of Chadian, Israeli, and Canadian physicians with experience in rural, military, and conflict zone medical aid, discusses the barriers to the implementation of PoCUS in low resource areas and offers potential solutions.

Keywords

conflict zonesemergency medicinelow-resource settingspoint-of-care ultrasound

Information

Type
Commentary
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e417
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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