The following is a summary of “A Low-Cost Ultrasound Phantom for Peritonsillar Abscess Drainage Training” published in the October 2022 issue of Emergency Medicine by Kolikof et al.
In clinical practice, peritonsillar abscesses (PTAs) are seen regularly. In order to treat this problem successfully, ultrasound-guided aspiration has been shown to be not only safe but also effective. PTA aspiration and diagnosis at the point of care using ultrasound guidance is currently not possible because of the absence of a model that is simple to manufacture and reasonably priced.
To educate emergency medicine specialists on how to perform ultrasound-guided PTA draining, the goal was to design an ultrasound phantom that was simple, inexpensive, and straightforward to manufacture. Researchers made advancements on their earlier work with ultrasonic phantoms by designing a phantom that can be refilled and is shaped similarly to the oral cavity. Learners were able to develop the necessary manual dexterity to operate an intraoral ultrasonography probe while also aspirating a PTA, thanks to this instructional strategy.
Investigators have developed a low-cost ultrasound phantom capable of repeating ultrasound-guided aspirations for the purpose of training physicians at the attending and resident levels. They were able to successfully develop a low-cost ultrasound phantom for the purposes of PTA identification and drainage by working with a short amount of lead time and equipment that was readily available.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0736467922001639
