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The Impact of an Ultrasound Curriculum on the Accuracy of Resident Joint Line Palpation
Robert Bowers1,2, David Neuberger3, Christopher Williams2
1Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.
Background:
Ultrasound education has been used as a tool to help improve physical examination skills. However, its utility in increasing accuracy of joint line palpation has yet to be investigated.
Objective:
To evaluate the accuracy of resident palpation and identification of the lateral knee joint line before and after introducing a musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) curriculum.
Design:
Cohort study.
Setting:
A physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) residency program at an academic institution.
Participants:
Seventeen PM&R residents.
Interventions:
Residents underwent a knee-focused MSUS workshop.
Main Outcome Measures:
Distance from needle placement to joint line confirmed with ultrasound.
Results:
All residents demonstrated improved accuracy in lateral knee joint line palpation after completing a knee-focused MSUS workshop, with statistically significant (P < .05) improvement in postgraduate year (PGY) 2 (P = .02), PGY-3 (P = .04), and across all residents (P = .001).
Conclusions:
MSUS education significantly improved lateral knee joint line palpation accuracy in resident physicians.
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