Point of Care Ultrasound Use by Interns in Emergency Department

BACKGROUND: Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is required for use in many instances on a daily basis in the hospital, especially in the emergency department and other specialty treatment areas. While interns play a crucial role in running emergency services in Thailand, the POCUS usage of interns has not been well studied. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study of the interns who worked at the Department of Emergency Medicine, a tertiary university hospital in Khon Kaen, Thailand between July 2020 and April 2021. The seven questions survey about participants’ experiences performing POCUS examinations was conceived and carried out by the research team. The primary aim of this study is to identify the frequency of POCUS examinations performed by interns in this or any other given rotation. RESULTS: The response rate was 81.25% with the frequency of POCUS examinations per physician coming in at 2.5 per shift. It should be noted that examinations occurred primarily during the morning shift (79%) and were for diagnostic purposes (100%). The highest POCUS use cases (80%) were found to take place for abdominal examinations and the most commonly used POCUS application was the FAST (Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma) examination (92%). The confidence level was rated as 3/5. The primary barrier to performing POCUS was lack of knowledge or ultrasound training (47%). CONCLUSIONS: POCUS is often used by interns though less than in some other specialties. The type of POCUS application employed was limited due to lack of training and the primary obstacle for POCUS use in the emergency department was patient overcrowding.