The Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Arthrocentesis Among Emergency Medicine Residents

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study is to determine if EM resident physicians are able to successfully utilize POCUS to perform an arthrocentesis in the ED. This is a retrospective review of ED patients who received an ultrasound-guided or ultrasound-assisted arthrocentesis performed in the ED over a 6-year period by an EM resident physician. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of ED patients who received an ultrasound-guided or ultrasound-assisted arthrocentesis performed in the ED over a 6-year period by an EM resident physician. An ED POCUS database was reviewed for POCUS examinations where an arthrocentesis was performed. Electronic medical records were then reviewed for demographic characteristics, history, physical examination findings, ED course, additional imaging studies, and the impact of the POCUS study on patient care and disposition. RESULTS: A total of 101 POCUS examinations of patients were included in the final analysis. The POCUS examinations and procedures were performed by 59 different EM residents at various levels of training. Overall, 92.1% (93/101) of the procedures were successful. When assessing for image quality, 98/101 (97%) had recognizable structures at minimum. The majority of the patients (84/101, 83.2%) received additional imaging of the affected joint. In the minority of cases (23/101, 22.8%), the ultrasound-assisted approach was utilized, while 78/100 (77.2%) utilized the ultrasound-guided approach. For the studies that utilized the ultrasound-guided approach, the quality of needle visualization was determined to be “good” 40/78 (51.3%). CONCLUSION: EM resident physicians are able to utilize POCUS to perform an arthrocentesis in the ED. Further research is encouraged to determine whether having residents utilize POCUS to perform an arthrocentesis has a significant impact on outcomes and patient care.