SynthesisAnnals of family medicine2019
Point-of-Care Ultrasound in General Practice: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Annals of family medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 152 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
How Point-of-care Ultrasound Affects the Diagnostic and Therapeutic Process in General Practice. A Prospective Follow-up Study in France
Observational Study to Validate a Family Physician Echocardiography Training Programme
Who cites it
152 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Artificial intelligence for lung ultrasound interpretation: a systematic review.Frontiers in radiology · 2026Pooled it
- Diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound for shock: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Evaluation of antenatal Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) training: a systematic review.Medical education online · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Echocardiography, lung ultrasound, and cardiac magnetic resonance findings in COVID-19: A systematic review.Echocardiography (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) · 2021Pooled it
- World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology Position Statement: How to Perform a Safe Ultrasound Examination and Clean Equipment in the Context of COVID-19.Ultrasound in medicine & biology · 2020Guideline
- Pooled it
- Adherence to the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD) 2015 Guidelines in Acute Point-of-Care Ultrasound Research.JAMA network open · 2020Pooled it
- Digital Simulation-Based Ultrasound Training for Physiotherapy Students: Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR medical education · 2026Trial
- Physicians' attitudes and perceived diagnostic confidence in point-of-care ultrasound in gynecology and obstetrics (GO-POCUS): a prospective single-center implementation study with structured training.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- Point-of-care ultrasound teaching in general practice and family medicine: EURACT position paper.The European journal of general practice · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Dutch General Practitioners ultrasound referrals and opportunities for point-of-care ultrasound: A retrospective analysis.The European journal of general practice · 2026Article
- Point-of-care ultrasound in primary care - EFSUMB core curriculum and training recommendations - a position paper.Ultraschall in der Medizin (Stuttgart, Germany : 1980) · 2026Article
- PoCUS-first versus CT-only for non-traumatic abdominal pain: a propensity score-weighted cohort study on ED resource utilization.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Next-Generation Cardiovascular Imaging in Precision Medicine: Integrating Functional Imaging, Artificial Intelligence, Biomarkers, and Personalized Risk Stratification.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Impact of Point-of-Care Ultrasound on the Management of Abdominal Pain in the Emergency Department: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Survey of the use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) among veterinarians in Quebec, France, and Belgium.The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne · 2026Article
- Point-of-care ultrasound in primary care: time for a standardized Italian curriculum?Journal of ultrasound · 2026Article
- Use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in French urgent primary care: a national survey of general practitioners in the SOS Médecins network.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Diagnostic Performance of General Practitioners in Carotid Plaque Detection Using AI-Enhanced Point-of-Care Ultrasound After Systematic Training.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
92 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeUltrasound examinations are currently being implemented in general practice. This study aimed to systematically review the literature on the training in and use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) by general practitioners.
methodsWe followed the Cochrane guidelines for conduct and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for reporting. We searched the databases MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials using the key words
resultsWe included in our review a total of 51 full-text articles. POCUS was applied for a variety of purposes, with the majority of scans focused on abdominal and obstetric indications. The length of training programs varied from 2 to 320 hours. Competence in some types of focused ultrasound scans could be attained with only few hours of training. Focused POCUS scans were reported to have a higher diagnostic accuracy and be associated with less harm than more comprehensive scans or screening scans. The included studies were of a low quality, however, mainly because of issues with design and reporting.
conclusionsPOCUS has the potential to be an important tool for the general practitioner and may possibly reduce health care costs. Future research should aim to assess the quality of ultrasound scans in broader groups of general practitioners, further explore how these clinicians should be trained, and evaluate the clinical course of patients who undergo scanning by general practitioners.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.