Undifferentiated Dyspnea with Point-of-Care Ultrasound, Primary Emergency Physician Compared with a Dedicated Emergency Department Ultrasound Team.

backgroundEmergency physicians (EPs) perform critical actions while operating with diagnostic uncertainty. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is useful in evaluation of dyspneic patients. In prior studies, POCUS is often performed by ultrasound (US) teams without patient care responsibilities.

objectivesThis study evaluates the effectiveness of POCUS in narrowing diagnostic uncertainty in dyspneic patients when performed by treating EPs vs. separate US teams.

methodsThis multicenter, prospective noninferiority cohort study investigated the effect of a POCUS performing team in patient encounters for dyspnea. Before-and-after surveys assessing medical decision-making were administered to attending physicians. Primary outcome was change in most likely diagnosis after POCUS. This was assessed for noninferiority between encounters where the primary or US team performed POCUS. Secondary outcomes included change in differential diagnosis, confidence in diagnosis, interventions considered, and image quality.

resultsThere were 156 patient encounters analyzed. In the primary team group, most likely diagnosis changed in 40% (95% confidence interval 28-52%) of encounters vs. 32% (95% confidence interval 22-41%) in the US team group. This was noninferior using an a priori specified margin of 20% (p < .0001). Post-POCUS differential decreased by a mean 1.8 diagnoses and was equivalent within a margin of 0.5 diagnoses between performing teams (p = 0.034). Other outcomes were similar between groups.

conclusionPOCUS performed by primary teams was noninferior to POCUS performed by US teams for changing the most likely diagnosis, and equivalent when considering mean reduction in number of diagnoses. POCUS performed by treating EPs reduces cognitive burden in dyspneic patients.