Nurses and Efficacy of Ultrasound-guided Versus Traditional Venous Access: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis

The use of ultrasonography in education for undergraduate nursing students: A literature review

AIM

The incorporation of ultrasonography into nursing practice is becoming more common, but how ultrasonography is used or applied in nursing student education is still unclear. This study aimed to review and synthesize relevant literature on the use of ultrasonography in education for undergraduate nursing students.

METHODS

An electronic literature search was conducted in June 2022 (updated in June 2023) using MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, and Ichushi-Web databases. Two researchers independently screened/assessed the eligibility of the studies, synthesized extracted data using a narrative synthesis (due to anticipated heterogeneity across studies), and evaluated the methodological quality of quantitative studies using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument.

RESULTS

Thirteen peer-reviewed articles were included in the review. All of the studies were conducted in high-income countries, and the majority of them employed an uncontrolled single-group design. Ultrasonography was used mainly for visualizing the vascular system to improve students' puncture skills, but it was also used with various other applications. The included studies were predominantly of moderate quality and heterogeneous, but all of them reported at least some benefits in nursing student education, such as enhancing knowledge and understanding of subcutaneous anatomical structures, and improving confidence in and/or skills of venipuncture and other visualization/assessment methods.

CONCLUSIONS

This review provides a broad perspective and highlights the potential use of ultrasonography in education for undergraduate nursing students. Further research is needed to develop standardized teaching methods/curriculum and competency assessments in order to ensure minimum competency standards for students and to improve clinical outcomes for patients.

Ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous canulation by emergency nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Peripheral intravenous cannulation is a common procedure in the emergency department. Nevertheless, failure rates during the first attempt are as high as 40% in adults and 65% in children. Evidence suggests that physician performed ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous cannulation (USG-PIVC) is an effective alternative to the traditional method; however, there is insufficient data on the efficacy of the technique performed by nurses.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the efficacy of the USG-PIVC technique performed by emergency department nurses.

METHODS

A literature review with meta-analysis was performed. The databases used were PubMed, Scopus and CINAHL. The search was conducted in March 2023. Two meta-analysis one of clinical trials about the effectiveness and one about the succession rate were performed.

RESULTS

20 studies were selected and analysed. The studies showed that USGPIVC performed by emergency nurses increased the probability of both the overall success and a successful first attempt compared to the standard technique. In addition, patients showed high satisfaction and lower complication rates. However, the procedure had no significant effect on the time or number of attempts required. A lower probability of success was obtained as regards peripheral intravenous cannulation when the standard technique was used, OR = 0.42 (95 %CI 0.25-0.70p < 0,05).

CONCLUSIONS

Ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous cannulation performed by emergency nurses is a safe and effective technique.

Ultrasound-guided versus traditional method for peripheral venous access: an umbrella review

Background

Short peripheral catheters (SPC) insertion technique has a high failure rate, one of the reasons why the ultrasound (US)-guided method has been proposed as a valid alternative to traditional technique in SPC insertion. This umbrella review aims to synthesize the available evidence comparing the US-guided method with the traditional method on SPC insertion in terms of effectiveness, safety and patient satisfaction.

Methods

An umbrella review addressing the comparison between US-guided versus traditional method for SPC insertion in which only systematic reviews of all comparative study designs were eligible was carried out. Previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses were systematically searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. Methodological quality was assessed with AMSTAR-2 tool. The quality of evidence per association was assessed using the GRADE criteria and was stablished as high, moderate, low and very low.

Results

Twelve systematic reviews with a range of 75–1860 patients were included. Moderate certainty evidence supports the positive effect of US-guided method on first-attempt success rate and number of attempts. There is moderate certainty evidence that US-guided method does not reduce the time spent in SPC insertion. Low certainty evidence supports that US-guided method improves both overall success rates and patient satisfaction. Emergency department was the main hospital department where these findings were reported.

Conclusions

The best current evidence indicates that US-guided method for SPC insertion is postulated as a valid alternative for both adult and pediatric population, especially in patients with difficult venous access and in hospital departments where optimal vascular access in the shortest time possible is critical.

Trial registration

PROSPERO: CRD42021290824.