Published in:
01-10-2007 | Brief Report
Focused training for goal-oriented hand-held echocardiography performed by noncardiologist residents in the intensive care unit
Published in: Intensive Care Medicine | Issue 10/2007
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Objective
We sought to evaluate the efficacy of a limited training dedicated to residents without knowledge in ultrasound for performing goal-oriented echocardiography in ICU patients.
Design
Prospective pilot observational study.
Setting
Medical-surgical ICU of a teaching hospital.
Patients
61 consecutive adult ICU patients (SAPS II score: 38 ± 17; 46 ventilated patients) requiring a transthoracic echocardiography were studied.
Interventions
After a curriculum including a 3-h training course and 5 h of hands-on training, one of four noncardiologist residents and an intensivist experienced in ultrasound subsequently performed hand-held echocardiography (HHE), independently and in random order. Assessable “rule in, rule out” clinical questions were purposely limited to easily identifiable conditions by the sole use of two-dimensional imaging.
Measurements and results
When compared with residents, the experienced intensivist performed shorter examinations (4 ± 1 vs. 11 ± 4 min: p < 0.0001) and had significantly less unsolved clinical questions [3 (0.8%) vs. 27 (7.4%) of 366 clinical questions: p < 0.0001]. When addressed, clinical questions were adequately appraised by residents: left ventricular systolic dysfunction [Kappa: 0.76 ± 0.09 (95% CI: 0.59–0.93)], left ventricular dilatation [Kappa: 0.66 ± 0.12 (95% CI: 0.43–0.90)], right ventricular dilatation [Kappa: 0.71 ± 0.12 (95% CI: 0.46–0.95)], pericardial effusion [Kappa: 0.68 ± 0.18 (95 CI: 0.33–1.03)], and pleural effusion [Kappa: 0.71 ± 0.09 (95% CI: 0.53–0.88)]. The only case of tamponade was accurately diagnosed by the resident.
Conclusions
Limited training of noncardiologist ICU residents without previous knowledge in ultrasound appears feasible and efficient to address simple clinical questions using point-of-care echography. Influence of the learning curve on diagnostic accuracy and potential therapeutic impact remain to be determined.