Ultraschall Med 2016; 37 - SL10_4
DOI: 10.1055/s-0036-1587759

Emergency ultrasound in German emergency departments. Results from a national survey

J Böer 1, T Lindner 2, A Heinzmann 3, T Kunzmann 1, L Lomberg 4, W Blank 3, M Möckel 2
  • 1Klinikum am Steinenberg, Zentrale Notaufnahme, Reutlingen, Germany
  • 2Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • 3Klinikum am Steinenberg, Medizinische Klinik I, Reutlingen, Germany
  • 4Klinikum Stuttgart, Interdisziplinäre Notaufnahme, Stuttgart, Germany

Purpose: Evaluation of the current state of ultrasound use in German emergency departments (ED).

Methods: Online-Survey by Surveymonkey® for 3 months. Members of DGINA and DEGUM were asked to complete the questionnaire. Responses were collected and anonymized.

Results: 135 valid answers from different hospitals were received. 85% of the hospitals have 2 or more ultrasound machines in the ED. 1/3 of the examinations are done by residents without supervision from an expert sonographer. Among the most frequent US-examinations are “abdomen”, “FAST”, “lower-extremity duplex”, “echo/FEEL” and “chest-US”. The participants claim that basic examinations should be mastered by every doctor. Special ultrasound examinations including gut sonography and contrast enhanced ultrasound are applied in some EDs, but the respective use differs widely.

Conclusion: To ensure high US quality in the ED, levels of competence and training programs need to be established. Contrast enhanced US is rarely used in EDs even though 50% have the technical possibility. Further research is required which examination types are needed most and how education should focus.