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The following is a summary of “A Randomized Study of Biplane Imaging in Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral Vascular Access Performed by Novice Operators,” published in the February 2025 issue of Journal of Emergency Medicine by Thom et al. 

Ultrasound guidance enhanced the safety and success of vascular access procedures, and while both short and long-axis imaging had benefits and limitations, new technology enabled a novel “biplane” approach for simultaneous viewing.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine whether the ‘biplane’ approach to ultrasound-guided vascular access improved competency in ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous (USGIV) catheter placement among medical student trainees.   

They randomized medical students in the fourth-year emergency medicine rotation (November 2022 to February 2024) to either biplane ultrasound or traditional ultrasound guidance for USGIV catheter placement on phantom models. The study estimated perceived difficulty, time to placement, number of needlesticks, and number of posterior wall punctures as the primary outcomes.   

The results showed that 98 students participated, with 51 assigned to the biplane group and 47 to the traditional ultrasound group. The average time for successful placement was 64.4 seconds (standard deviation [SD], 43 seconds) in the biplane group and 73 seconds (SD, 37 seconds) in the traditional group (P = 0.29). The mean number of needlesticks was 1.10 (SD, 0.3) for the biplane group and 1.06 (SD, 0.44) for the traditional group (P = 0.65). The average number of posterior wall punctures was 0.14 (SD, 0.4) for the biplane group and 0.45 (SD, 0.8) for the traditional group (P = 0.019).   

Investigators concluded that in medical students with minimal USGIV experience, biplane imaging did not lessen the time to successful placement but did reduce posterior wall punctures. 

Source: jem-journal.com/article/S0736-4679(25)00049-6/abstract