Accuracy of Spleen Measurement by Medical Residents Using Hand-Carried Ultrasound

Objectives Easily palpable splenomegaly can be identified on physical examination, but it is difficult to detect lesser degrees of splenomegaly. Rapid bedside assessment can be conducted with hand-carried ultrasound. We performed this study to determine whether medical residents could reliably assess spleen size using hand-carried ultrasound after a brief educational intervention. Methods Postgraduate year 1 internal medicine residents were shown a brief (45-minute) presentation on ultrasound basics, the use of hand-carried ultrasound, and principles of splenic ultrasound imaging. They practiced on each other, using hand-carried ultrasound to assess spleen size, for 1 hour in the presence of an instructor. Patients with varying degrees of splenomegaly and hospital staffwere recruited at Vancouver General Hospital. A sonographer measured spleen size in each participant using conventional ultrasound. Subsequently, the trained residents scanned the participants using hand-carried ultrasound, blinded to the sonographer's measurements and the participants' diagnoses. The instructor was not present during scanning. Results Twelve first-year residents (8 male and 4 female; mean age SEM, 28 +/- 1 years; all with limited prior ultrasound training) and 19 patients and staff members (10 male and 9 female; mean age, 60 +/- 4 years; body mass index, 24 +/- 2 kg/m(2)) were recruited. The greatest longitudinal measurements were 14.0 +/- 0.7 cm with conventional ultrasound administered by the sonographer and 13.2 +/- 0.9 cm with hand-carried ultrasound administered by the residents (P > .05, not significant). The correlation between conventional and hand-carried ultrasound was r = 0.81 (P < .001). Conclusions Internal medicine residents can reliably assess spleen size at the point of care using hand-carried ultrasound with minimal training. Our findings, if replicated in other centers and in different clinical scenarios, may change the way that clinicians examine the spleen.