Department of Emergency Medicine, Maricopa Integrated Health System, 2601 East Roosevelt Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85008.
Published: September 2017
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Purpose: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is integral to the practice of emergency medicine (EM). Furthermore, EM-performed POCUS (EM-POCUS) offers consultants the opportunity to avoid delays in care due to wait times for confirmatory imaging studies. This study is the first to describe the perception of POCUS to consulting services at a single institution where EM-POCUS is routinely performed.
Methods: This study was conducted as a survey distributed to residents from consultant specialties (internal medicine [IM], general surgery [GS], and obstetrics and gynecology [OB-GYN]). Survey questions aimed to describe consultant's confidence and utilization of EM-POCUS. Responses were evaluated using descriptive and comparative analysis.
Results: Survey responses were obtained from 27 IM (87.1%), 13 GS (100%), and 21 OB-GYN (100%) respondents. Among consultant specialties, 47.5% of respondents reported comfort with EM-POCUS. IM (81.5%) providers were significantly more likely to trust EM-POCUS as compared with OB-GYN (28.6%) and GS (7.7%) providers (p < 0.001). Confidence was further limited when consultants were unable to view POCUS images (23.8% for OB-GYN, 15.4% for GS, 55.6% for IM), but improved with EM provider level of POCUS experience and training (81% for OB-GYN, 76.9% for GS, 77.8% for IM). Overall, consultant utilization of EM-POCUS was 68.9%.
Purpose: It is unknown if Emergency Physicians (EPs) rely solely on Emergency Medicine performed Point-Of-Care Ultrasound (EM-POCUS) for clinical decision making or if they proceed to subsequent "gold standard" studies for confirmatory diagnosis.
Methods: After Institutional Review Board approval, an online survey was distributed by the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians to its members.
Results: The most common EM-POCUS procedures used without confirmatory testing were: determination of cardiac activity during cardiac arrest (81.
Purpose: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is integral to the practice of emergency medicine (EM). Furthermore, EM-performed POCUS (EM-POCUS) offers consultants the opportunity to avoid delays in care due to wait times for confirmatory imaging studies. This study is the first to describe the perception of POCUS to consulting services at a single institution where EM-POCUS is routinely performed.
