A simplified training method for soft tissue foreign body detection using ultrasound in emergency medicine residency program

Using ultrasound for detecting soft tissue foreign bodies seems to be the preferred choice with minimum invasion and easy availability at the bedside in emergency departments. In this study, a workshop (1 hour of lecture presentation and 3 hours of interactive hands-on) was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a short course of simple interactive training to improve the ability of emergency medicine residents to detect foreign bodies with ultrasound. Eight pieces of fresh full thickness (10 × 10 × 10 cm) lamb leg muscle were used in this study. Five different types of foreign bodies, including: a piece of glass (5 × 5 × 4 mm), wood (5 × 5 × 4 mm), gravel (5 mm diameter), plastic (5 × 5 × 2 mm) and a nail (25 mm in length) were placed deep inside each lamb leg. An ultrasound machine with a 7.5 MHz linear probe was used in this study. 35 emergency medicine residents (12 PGY1, 11 PGY2 and 12 PGY3) were enrolled in this study. Pretest and post-test results were compared and analyzed. Among all 35 participants in the training session, foreign body detection was significantly improved after the workshop ( p