Gastric Ultrasound Education: Participant Survey Data from a Statewide Gastric POCUS Workshop

Abstract

Background Prior studies implementing POCUS into medical education through standardized workshops have been shown to improve knowledge and POCUS comfort. In one study, hands-on training and asynchronous online modules increased PGY-1 residents’ confidence in obtaining POCUS images, recognizing anatomical structures, and incorporating POCUS into clinical practice. Our study aims to reinforce these findings in the population of practicing anesthesiologists, with an emphasis on the use of gastric ultrasound. Gastric ultrasound can be a vital tool for anesthesiologists in determining an appropriate anesthesia induction and maintenance technique with uncertain patient fasting status. Objectives This study aimed to assess practicing anesthesiologists' confidence, knowledge, and skill in performing gastric POCUS before and after a focused workshop that used deliberate practice. Methods Participants of the 2024 Indiana Society of Anesthesia annual meeting participated in a hands-on gastric point of care ultrasound workshop as part of the statewide conference. Participants completed a survey to assess their knowledge and comfort with performing gastric ultrasound prior to the workshop. They also completed a post-workshop survey and a knowledge test to assess their ability to identify structures on a gastric ultrasound. This study is a prospective analysis comparing survey data before and after the workshop. Pre- and post-workshop responses were analyzed using two-tailed Fisher’s exact tests and statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05. Results 37 participants completed the pre-workshop survey, and 25 completed the post-workshop survey. Statistically significant differences were found in physicians' confidence in obtaining gastric images (p<0.0001), interpreting gastric ultrasound (p<0.0001), and confidence in incorporating gastric POCUS into practice (p=0.0003) [Fig. 1]. No significant difference was found in general POCUS confidence (p=0.5336). Conclusion Anesthesia faculty who attended the workshop reported increased confidence with gastric POCUS, demonstrated improved skills in identifying structures, and reported greater confidence in integrating it into clinical practice, suggesting the addition of deliberate practice was positive.