Radiology residents’ experience with intussusception reduction

BACKGROUND: Residents should be exposed to adequate procedural volume to act independently upon completion of training. Informal inquiry led us to question whether residents encounter enough intussusception reductions to become comfortable with the procedure. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine radiology residents’ exposure to intussusception reductions, and whether their experiences vary by region or institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: U.S. radiology residency program directors were asked to encourage their residents to complete a 12-question online survey describing characteristics of their pediatric radiology department, experiences with intussusception reduction, and confidence in their own ability to perform the procedure. RESULTS: Six hundred sixty-four residents responded during the study period. Of those, 308 (46.4%) had not experienced an intussusception reduction, and 228 (34%) had experienced only one or two. Twenty-two percent of fourth-year residents had never experienced an intussusception reduction, and 21% had experienced only one. Among second- through fourth-year residents, only 99 (18.3%) felt confident that they could competently reduce an intussusception (P < 0.0001), and 336 (62.2%) thought they would benefit from a computer-assisted training model simulating intussusception reduction (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Radiology residents have limited opportunity to learn intussusception reduction and therefore lack confidence. Most think they would benefit from additional training with a computer-simulation model.