Ole Graumann (MD, PhD, Associate professor, Chairman elect DUDS)
Troels Mengel-Jørgensen, Thomas Løkkegaard, Søren Kæseler Andersen, Ulrike Mehnert,
Christian Valetiner-Branth, Lars Bredahl Riisgaard, Bo Stork, Torsten Rudbæk, Christian
Stjernebjerg and Nicloai Soll (all MD, GP, board members, DAUS)
Camilla Aakjær Andersen, MD, Post.Doc., and Martin Bach Jensen, Professor, PhD, GP,
both Center for General Practice at Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
The use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in general practice is increasing. This
development may be driven by access to suitable and affordable machines together with
a need for additional tools to diagnose and treat increasingly complex patients in
primary care. The implementation of POCUS in general practice varies in different
European countries [1]
[2]. This reflects both the diversity in health care organization, specialist training,
and culture among the different countries. Hence, establishing uniform guidelines
and recommendations for the use of POCUS in general practice across Europe may not
be feasible. Focusing on educational aspects could indeed be more relevant.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound in general practice can roll-out questions like: “Is there
an abdominal aneurism: yes/no?”
The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB)
has developed and published well known minimum training recommendations for the use
of ultrasound in a range of medical fields. An adaptation of these training recommendations
to suit the needs of general practice could help facilitate a timely and coordinated
implementation process.
In Denmark, POCUS is generally used to answer selected simple clinical questions such
as Does this patient have a gallstone?
[3] It seems to be within reach of general practitioners to perform such focused scans
with acceptable quality [4]
[5].
Today, the use in general practice is limited to a smaller group of dedicated POCUS
users. However, within a few years we expect a transition to a broad dissemination
of POCUS use in the general practice community. This poses various challenges especially
regarding educational capacity and quality assurance. The Danish Society for Ultrasonography
in General Practice (DAUS) have, in collaboration with researchers, set up a plan
for a large-scale implementation of POCUS in Danish general practice. This includes
developing training programs for general practitioners, guidelines, quality assurance
programs, addressing organizational aspects, and initiation of further research. Thus,
we expect the coming years to be challenging and very exciting regarding the use of
POCUS in Danish general practice.
