Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia performance in the early learning period: effect of simulation training.

Background And Objectives: Success in performing ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blockade (PNB) demands sound knowledge of sonoanatomy, good scanning techniques, and proper hand-eye coordination. The objectives of our study were to evaluate whether simulator training aids success of novice operators in ultrasound-guided PNB and to determine what number of procedures is required to attain proficiency.

Methods: Twenty Postgraduate Year 2 anesthesiology residents with no previous experience in ultrasound-guided PNB were randomly assigned into 2 groups.