Frequency of sonography use among anesthesiology and reanimation specialists [Anesteziyoloji ve reanimasyon uzmanlarinin ultrasonografi kullanim sikli?i]

Abstract

Objective: Sonography (USG) has widely been used as a non-invasive diagnostic modality for years. Today, it is increasingly used for the purposes of anesthesia and reanimation interventions. Method: After the approval of Ethics Committee of Erciyes University on Clinical Trials, we sent a questionnaire via email to 2409 anesthesiology and reanimation specialists who are members of Turkish Anesthesiology and Reanimation Foundation. Results: Sonography is used to improve success rate and to reduce complications in regional anesthesia and invasive intervention by anesthesia and reanimation specialists in Turkey as similar to other regions of world. Although participants frequently performing invasive interventions such as central vein catheterization or peripheral nerve blocks encountered complications in varying rates, 13 of the participants don't need to use sonography. Twenty-four participants reported that it requires longer preparation period. Conclusion: We think that preparation period of sonography can be accelerated by frequent use and completed in tolerable time period. We think that sonography should be present as standard equipment in anesthesia and pain interventions as well as intensive care units. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to identify trends towards sonography use among anesthesiology and reanimation specialists. Deficiencies should be addressed by providing training and supplying equipment. Training can be provided by radiology rotation during residency.