Analysis of the use of point-of-care ultrasonography in Emergency Departments in public hospitals in Catalonia. ECURCAT Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the degree of implantation, the characteristics and the formation of point-of-care ultrasonography, performed by emergency physicians in the public hospital emergency department (ED) of Catalonia. Descriptive study based on a survey conducted with those responsible for the public ED in Catalonia and structured in three blocks: difficulty of implementing the technique and perceived reasons for this difficulty, equipment available in the emergency room and its use, and training of emergency physicians. The survey was answered by 96.3% of public ED; in 63.5% of them the emergency physicians performed point-of-care ultrasonography. Implementing ultrasonography was considered to have a high degree of difficulty in 86.5%, and 78.8% had their own ultrasound. The most frequent use is abdominal (87.9%), thoracic (72.7%) and peripheral vascular (69.7%). The presence of protocols and registers of the activity is scarce. The training is not uniform between staff doctors and those on call. No significant differences were found according to the type of hospital, the degree of activity or the presence of a radiologist 24 hours a day, the exception being the FAST protocol, which was more used in regional hospitals (89.5% vs. 42.9%; p=0.007). Point-of-care ultrasonography done by emergency physicians is used in more than half of the Catalan public ED. There is a need for extending the use of ultrasound in the ED, it should be more regulated, appropriately registered and involve all physicians working in the emergency department.