Point-of-care ultrasound in cardiorespiratory arrest (POCUS-CA): narrative review article.

The POCUS-CA (Point-of-care ultrasound in cardiac arrest) is a diagnostic tool in the Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Department setting. The literature indicates that in the patient in a cardiorespiratory arrest it can provide information of the etiology of the arrest in patients with non-defibrillable rhythms, assess the quality of compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and define prognosis of survival according to specific findings and, thus, assist the clinician in decision-making during resuscitation. This narrative review of the literature aims to expose the usefulness of ultrasound in the setting of cardiorespiratory arrest as a tool that allows making a rapid diagnosis and making decisions about reversible causes of this entity.