Randomized, noninferiority study between video versus hand ultrasound with wet foam dressing materials to simulate B-lines in lung ultrasound: A CONSORT-compliant article

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the efficacy of a teaching method using simulated B-lines of hand ultrasound with a wet foam dressing material. METHODS: This prospective, randomized, noninferiority study was conducted on emergency medical technician students without any relevant training in ultrasound. Following a lecture including simulated (SG) or real video clips (RG) of B-lines, a posttest was conducted and a retention test was performed after 2 months. The test consisted of questions about B-lines in 40 randomly mixed video clips (20 simulated and 20 real videos) with 4 answer scores (R-1 [the correct answer score for the real video clips] vs S-1 [the correct answer score for the simulated video clips] in the posttest, R-2 [the correct answer score for the real video clips] vs S-2 [the correct answer score for the simulated video clips] in the retention test). RESULTS: A total of 77 and 73 volunteers participated in the posttest (RG, 38; SG, 39) and retention test (RG, 36; SG, 37), respectively. There was no significant (P > .05) difference in scores of R-1, S-1, R-2, or S-2 between RG and SG. The mean score differences between RG and SG were −0.6 (95% confidence interval [CI]: −1.49 to 0.11) in R-1, −0.1 (95% CI: −1.04 to 0.86) in S-1, 0 (95% CI: −1.57 to 1.50) in R-2, and −0.2 (95% CI: −1.52 to 0.25) in S-2. The mean differences and 95% CIs for all parameters fell within the noninferiority margin of 2 points (10%). CONCLUSION: Simulated B-lines of hand ultrasound with a wet foam dressing material were not inferior to real B-lines. They were effective for teaching and simulations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with the Clinical Trial Registry of Korea: https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/index.jsp (KCT0002144).