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Author Spotlight: Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Gastric Content Assessment and Risk Stratification in Perioperative Care
Published on: September 22, 2023
Global survey on point-of-care ultrasound (pocus) use in child surgery
Gerlin Naidoo1, Mohammed Salim2,3, Andrew Jackson2,3
1Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Room 6607, Level 6, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. gerlin.naidoo@nds.ox.ac.uk.
Purpose:
To undertake a global assessment of existing ultrasound practices, barriers to access, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training pathways, and the perceived clinical utility of POCUS in Child Surgery.
Methods:
An electronic survey was disseminated via the GICS (Global Initiative of Children's Surgery) network. 247 anonymized responses from 48 countries were collated. 71.3% (176/247) worked in child surgery.
Results:
Ultrasound was critical to practice with 84% (147/176) of requesting one daily or multiple times per week. Only 10% (17/176) could access emergency ultrasound < 1 h from request. The main barrier was a lack of trained personnel. HIC surgeons were more likely to have ultrasound training (24/29; 82.8%) compared with LMICs (74/147; 50.3%) (p = .001319; CI 95%). Self-perceived POCUS competence was associated with regularity of POCUS use (p < 0.001; CI 95%). Those who already practice POCUS most commonly use it for trauma, intussusception, and ultrasound-guided procedures. Majority (90%; 159/176) of child surgeons would attend formal POCUS training if available.
Conclusions:
Ultrasound is critically important in children's surgery globally, however, many surgeons experience barriers to timely access. There is a strong interest in learning POCUS for relevant pediatric surgical applications. Further research is needed to evaluate the best methods of training, accreditation, and governance.
