• Jonathan M Curley, Daniel J Ridley, Kimia Kashkooli, and Siny Tsang.
• Departments of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. Electronic address: YZS6YF@uvahealth.org.
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2023 Dec 1; 37 (12): 248224882482-2488.

ObjectivesTo investigate whether resident anesthesiologists perceive intraoperative focused cardiac ultrasonography (FoCUS) as feasible, the self-reported confidence of residents performing intraoperative FoCUS, and United States graduate medical education resident ultrasound training practices.DesignA cross-sectional survey.SettingThe United States Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-listed anesthesiology programs over a 3-month period between June 2022 to September 2022.ParticipantsUnited States anesthesiology residents.InterventionsA survey.Measurements And Main ResultsReported training practices were as follows: 87.3% of respondents reported formal FoCUS training, and the most commonly reported training was "lectures + live-model training under 5 hours annually" at 31%. Most respondents (82%) stated that faculty never or rarely performed bedside FoCUS, and most respondents (69%) reported no intraoperative FoCUS education exposure. The proportion of residents who reported a positive view on the perceived feasibility of intraoperative FoCUS was 53.2% for extremity surgery, 19.8% for laparoscopic surgery, 18.6% for exploratory laparotomy surgery, and 7.9% for robotic surgery. Most respondents (78.6%) indicated a lack of confidence in performing intraoperative FoCUS independently. The authors found no statistical difference in views on feasibility or reported confidence independently performing FoCUS across training years. Training that included "lectures + simulation" or "live-model" for more than 5 hours annually, faculty routinely using bedside FoCUS, and frequent exposure to intraoperative FoCUS increased the odds of reporting confidence.ConclusionsThe misconception that intraoperative FoCUS is infeasible appears prevalent, and most of the authors' respondents expressed a lack of comfort independently performing intraoperative FoCUS. Alterations of training practices, including increasing faculty usage of bedside ultrasonography, increasing trainee time performing FoCUS, and incorporating specific intraoperative ultrasound into the ultrasound curriculum, may address these deficiencies.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

18 keywords...

hide…