Preliminary study on diagnosis of acute scrotum usingpoint-of-care ultrasonography by novice emergency residents:a comparison with conventional ultrasonography
- Author:
Kipum KIM
1
;
Kwanjae KIM
;
Changjoo AN
;
Junyoung JUNG
;
Wonjoon JEONG
;
Changshin KANG
;
Sekwang OH
;
Sunguk CHO
;
Jinhong MIN
;
Yongchul CHO
;
Hongjoon AHN
;
Jungsoo PARK
;
Seung RYU
;
Yeonho YOO
;
Seunghwan KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea
- Publication Type:Original Article
- From:Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
2020;31(2):221-227
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Objective:The diagnostic accuracy of novice residents in evaluating the scrotal pathology by point-of-care (POC) ultrasonography(US) was compared with that by the conventional US to determine the level of experience required toachieve competency.
Methods:Three novice residents underwent a one-day training course on identifying scrotal pathologies using POC US.They performed POC US on patients with an acute scrotum to identify five pathological findings. The diagnosis was confirmedby conventional scrotal US. The sensitivity and specificity of POC US by novice residents were calculated, and thechanges in sensitivity and specificity over time were observed.
Results:Sixty-two patients were included; the overall sensitivity and specificity were 76.7% (95% confidence interval [CI],61.3%-88.2%) and 78.9% (95% CI, 54.4%-93.9%), respectively. Decreased blood flow in the testicle showed very goodspecificity (100%; 95% CI, 93.8%-100.0%). The sensitivity and accuracy were variable at first 18 scans of each resident,but increased after 18 scans and were maintained over time.
Conclusion:Although the diagnostic accuracy of novice residents in evaluating the scrotal pathology using POC US wasvariable at first, the accuracy improved over time, especially after 18 scans of each resident. Nevertheless, larger, longtermresearch is needed to confirm the results of this study.
