Evaluation of Bedside Ultrasonography Use of Emergency Physicians

Abstract

Aim: Bedside ultrasonography (US) is a frequently used tool to facilitate diagnosis and treatment in emergency departments (EDs). The primary aim of our study was to evaluate the characteristics of emergency physicians’ use of bedside US. Our secondary aim was to analyze factors affecting the regular use of bedside US. Material and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional survey study conducted with physicians working in EDs. The study was carried out using a 15-item questionnaire in 2020, and the results were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. Results: The questionnaire was sent to 965 physicians working in the EDs of 48 different hospitals, and the data of 684 (71.5%) that responded to all items in the questionnaire were included in the study. The EDs of the hospitals included in the study had at least one US device, and 82% of them were equipped with three probes. It was observed that 152 (22.2%) of the emergency physicians did not use US at all, and 532 (77.8%) used US regularly, albeit rarely. The most common area of use for US in the ED was focused assessment with sonography in trauma, followed by procedural guidance [432 (63.2%) and 308 (45%), respectively]. Of the physicians who did not use bedside US regularly, 33.3% (n=96) stated that they did not use it due to their lack of training. In addition, the interest of emergency physicians in US education was measured as 7±3 points. It was observed that the conditions associated with frequent use of bedside US were gender, inclusion of US training during residency, and duration of the availability of an US machine in the emergency clinic. Conclusion: This study showed that emergency physicians had a high interest in using bedside US. The greatest obstacle to the use of US was insufficient training. Therefore, emergency physicians should be offered regular US training programs sand those that have not received US training should be encouraged to participate in such programs.