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Perioperative ultrasound among South African anaesthetists: a survey of current practice and availability

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is becoming part of the standard skill set of the modern-day anaesthetist. There is limited knowledge regarding the availability of ultrasound (US) and POCUS skills in South Africa. There may be barriers to adopting US in many institutions. Methods: An ob...

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Main Author: Kathrada, Mohammad
Other Authors: Gibbs, Matthew
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author Kathrada, Mohammad
author2 Gibbs, Matthew
author_browse Gibbs, Matthew
Kathrada, Mohammad
author_facet Gibbs, Matthew
Kathrada, Mohammad
author_sort Kathrada, Mohammad
collection Thesis
description Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is becoming part of the standard skill set of the modern-day anaesthetist. There is limited knowledge regarding the availability of ultrasound (US) and POCUS skills in South Africa. There may be barriers to adopting US in many institutions. Methods: An observational cohort questionnaire was distributed via an online REDCap survey. All doctors practising anaesthesia in South Africa were eligible. Recruitment was done via an email link that was sent to South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA) members. Non-SASA members were recruited via departmental mailing lists or social media. Results: Of the 580 respondents, 478 were SASA members (response rate 22.9%, confidence interval 3.94) and 102 were non-SASA members. In total, 571 surveys were suitable for analysis, 397 (69.5%) respondents had more than five years anaesthesia experience, 558 (97.7%) of respondents worked in hospitals that have US machines available, and 76.7% had US readily available after hours. Respondents used US mostly for central venous catheter (CVC) insertions (77.9%), regional anaesthesia (82.3%), and cardiac and lung assessments (26.4% and 17.7%, respectively). It is used much less frequently for neuraxial anaesthesia (1.4%). Of the respondents, 382 (66.9%) had received US training, only 198 (34.7%) felt confident in their US skills, and 482 (84.4%) wish to have further US training. The two most significant barriers to US were lack of equipment and lack of training at postgraduate level. Conclusion: South African anaesthetists work at institutions where US equipment is generally available, and most practitioners want to incorporate US in their practice. However, anaesthetists feel insecure with respect to their skills and indicated that they wish to receive further training. Efforts should be made to formalise POCUS training in the Fellowship of the College of Anaesthetists (FCA) curriculum and make US training more accessible.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:58.612Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine
publisherStr Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39586 Perioperative ultrasound among South African anaesthetists: a survey of current practice and availability Kathrada, Mohammad Gibbs, Matthew Swanevelder Justiaan Anaesthesia Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is becoming part of the standard skill set of the modern-day anaesthetist. There is limited knowledge regarding the availability of ultrasound (US) and POCUS skills in South Africa. There may be barriers to adopting US in many institutions. Methods: An observational cohort questionnaire was distributed via an online REDCap survey. All doctors practising anaesthesia in South Africa were eligible. Recruitment was done via an email link that was sent to South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA) members. Non-SASA members were recruited via departmental mailing lists or social media. Results: Of the 580 respondents, 478 were SASA members (response rate 22.9%, confidence interval 3.94) and 102 were non-SASA members. In total, 571 surveys were suitable for analysis, 397 (69.5%) respondents had more than five years anaesthesia experience, 558 (97.7%) of respondents worked in hospitals that have US machines available, and 76.7% had US readily available after hours. Respondents used US mostly for central venous catheter (CVC) insertions (77.9%), regional anaesthesia (82.3%), and cardiac and lung assessments (26.4% and 17.7%, respectively). It is used much less frequently for neuraxial anaesthesia (1.4%). Of the respondents, 382 (66.9%) had received US training, only 198 (34.7%) felt confident in their US skills, and 482 (84.4%) wish to have further US training. The two most significant barriers to US were lack of equipment and lack of training at postgraduate level. Conclusion: South African anaesthetists work at institutions where US equipment is generally available, and most practitioners want to incorporate US in their practice. However, anaesthetists feel insecure with respect to their skills and indicated that they wish to receive further training. Efforts should be made to formalise POCUS training in the Fellowship of the College of Anaesthetists (FCA) curriculum and make US training more accessible. 2024-05-06T13:58:48Z 2024-05-06T13:58:48Z 2023 2024-05-06T13:23:11Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39586 eng application/pdf Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences
spellingShingle Anaesthesia
Kathrada, Mohammad
Perioperative ultrasound among South African anaesthetists: a survey of current practice and availability
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Perioperative ultrasound among South African anaesthetists: a survey of current practice and availability
title_full Perioperative ultrasound among South African anaesthetists: a survey of current practice and availability
title_fullStr Perioperative ultrasound among South African anaesthetists: a survey of current practice and availability
title_full_unstemmed Perioperative ultrasound among South African anaesthetists: a survey of current practice and availability
title_short Perioperative ultrasound among South African anaesthetists: a survey of current practice and availability
title_sort perioperative ultrasound among south african anaesthetists a survey of current practice and availability
topic Anaesthesia
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39586
work_keys_str_mv AT kathradamohammad perioperativeultrasoundamongsouthafricananaesthetistsasurveyofcurrentpracticeandavailability