Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
A Randomized Double-Blinded Trial on the Effects of Ultrasound Transducer Orientation on Teaching and Learning Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia.
Learning ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia skills, especially needle/ beam alignment, can be especially difficulty for trainees, who can often become frustrated. We hypothesized that teaching novices to orient the transducer and needle perpendicular to their shoulders will improve performance on a standardized task, compared to holding the transducer and needle parallel to the shoulders. ⋯ Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia trainees complete a standardized task more quickly and efficiently when instructed to hold the transducer and needle in an orientation perpendicular to their shoulders.