The learning curve of sonographic inferior vena cava evaluation by novice medical students: the Pavia experience

Purpose The sonographic evaluation of inferior vena cava diameters and its collapsibility—that is also defined as the caval index—has become a popular way to easily obtain a noninvasive estimate of central venous pressure. This is generally considered an easy sonographic task to perform, and according to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Guidelines 25 repetitions of this procedure should be sufficient to reach proficiency. However, little is known about the learning process for this sonographic technique. Therefore, we designed this study to investigate the learning curve of inferior vena cava evaluation. Methods We enrolled a sample of ten ultrasound-naïve medical students who received a preliminary training provided by two Junior Emergency Medicine Residents. Following training, each student performed the sonographic task on 25 different patients who were hospitalized in the internal medicine ward. The students’ performance was compared with the results obtained by a consultant in internal medicine with extensive experience in point-of-care ultrasound, who repeated the procedure on the same patients (gold standard). In detail, we evaluated the time to complete the task, the quality of the obtained images, and the ability to visually estimate and measure the caval index. Results Although most students (9/10) reached the pre-defined level of competence, their overall performance was inferior to the one achieved by the gold standard, with little improvement over time. However, repetition was associated with progressive shortening of the time needed to achieve readable images. Conclusions Overall, these findings suggest that, although allowing to obtain a pre-defined competence, 25 repetitions are not enough to reach a good level of proficiency for this technique, that needs a longer training to be achieved.