Use Of Thoracic Ultrasound Among Respiratory Physicians In Nigeria: Results From A Preliminary Survey

Introduction: Pleural diseases are common causes of respiratory morbidity and mortality. Globally, the use of thoracic ultrasound is gaining prominent role in the evaluation of pleural diseases either for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. It is increasingly becoming part of many thoracic society guidelines to perform thoracic ultrasound before carrying out any pleural procedure. There is however paucity of data on training, accessibility and use of thoracic ultrasound in diagnosing and locating pleural diseases and its complications in developing countries. Aim: To assess the knowledge, use and availability of thoracic ultrasound among Respiratory Physicians in Nigeria. Methodology: We conducted a survey to assess the knowledge, availability and use of thoracic ultrasound among respiratory physicians in Nigeria using SurveyMonkey. Result: Of the 57 respondents, only 12.3% had access to thoracic ultrasound on the ward while no respondents had a regular dedicated training session for thoracic ultrasound. Only 4, (7%) of the respondents had gotten level 1 competency, indicating ability to independently perform chest ultrasound of which half were senior registrar with more than 3 years of post-junior residency and other half were consultants. Conclusion: There is dearth of ultrasound machines on the wards in most hospital among the respondents. The knowledge and use of thoracic ultrasound among Respiratory Physicians in Nigeria also appear to be low. Training, re-training and mentoring are needed to assist both trainees and trainers to attain the required competency in chest ultrasound in order to ensure safer pleural practices.