Accuracy of Surgeon-performed Ultrasound in Detecting Gallstones - a Validation Study

June 9, 2015 updated by: Camilla Gustafsson, Karolinska Institutet

Aims: To prospectively investigate the accuracy of surgeon-performed ultrasound for the detection of gallstones.

Methods: 179 adult patients, with an acute or elective referral for an abdominal ultrasound examination, were examined with a right upper quadrant ultrasound scan by a radiologist as well as surgeon. The surgeons had undergone a four-week long education in ultrasound before participating in the study. Ultrasound findings of the surgeon were compared to those of the radiologist, using radiologist-performed ultrasound as reference standard.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Enrolment of patients:

Three hundred patients, with an acute or elective referral to the radiology department at Stockholm South General Hospital, Sweden, for any diagnostic abdominal US examination, including both patients admitted to in-hospital care and out-patients, were prospectively enrolled between October 2011 and November 2012. Eligible patients were identified in the radiology department by a study surgeon and informed consent was obtained. Six US educated surgeons participated in the enrolment of patients. Exclusion criteria were age <18 years or inability to communicate with the examiner. Referrals concerning metastases of the liver or contrast-enhanced examinations were considered not suitable for the study and were also excluded. The surgeons examined patients consecutively if time was available, but mostly they didn't have time to examine every patient referred per day, hence a certain prioritisation between referrals was done.

Data collection:

Enrolled patients received one US examination by the study surgeon as well as the standard US examination by the on-duty radiologist. In a majority of cases the two examinations were performed consecutively and the time interval between the surgeon-performed US and radiologist-performed US never exceeded 24 hours. The surgeon's examination took place either before or right after the radiologist's examination. The examining surgeon and radiologist were blinded to each other's findings. The surgeon's US examination followed a standardised protocol, which included a full abdominal scan, regardless of the nature of the referral. The presence of gallstones was marked as a 'yes' (positive finding, regardless of number or size) or 'no' (negative finding) by the surgeon. In cases where a full abdominal scan could not be performed, due to urgent patient management, a focused examination based on the referral as well as a right upper quadrant (RUQ) scan was advised. The on-duty radiologist performed a standard care US focusing on the individual referrals. The radiologist's statement was collected from the patient's medical record and transferred to the study protocol by a separate radiologist, who was also blinded to the surgeon's examination. Among the radiologists the major part of the scans was done by US specialised radiologists with several years of training (56% US specialists, 73% specialists in radiology).

The surgeons used a portable US machine of the model LOGIQ e with a convex (1.6-4.6 MHz) or linear (5-13 MHz) transducer, GE Healthcare, WuXi, China. All scans were saved on a separate hard drive, which was kept together with the study protocol. The radiologists used Philips iU22 with a convex C5-1 or a linear L12-5 transducer.

US training of surgeons participating in the study:

Six study surgeons, five in the final years of their specialist training and one specialist in surgery, with limited or no previous US training, attended a one-week course, comprising US physics, technique, anatomy and hands-on training, led by specialists in US. After attending the course the surgeons received three weeks of training in the radiology department under the guidance of an US specialist. The surgeons were expected to perform a minimum of 50 supervised scans, which was obtained in all cases but one. The training focused on detecting gallbladder stones, widened bile ducts, thickened wall of the gallbladder, lesions in the liver parenchyma, hydronephrosis, abdominal aortic aneurysms, free abdominal fluid and appendicitis. After the training was completed, each surgeon spent a minimum of two weeks enrolling and scanning patients during office hours in the hospital's radiology department.

Ethics:

The patients received oral and written information from the study surgeon and were included after informed consent. The study was approved by the Ethical Review Board, at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

300

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Sweden
      • Stockholm, Sweden, S-11883
        • Karolinska Institutet Södersjukhuset (South General Hospital)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients referred to the radiology department for an abdominal ultrasound.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients referred to the radiology department for an abdominal ultrasound
  • Age > 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Inability to communicate with the examiner
  • Referral for intervention
  • Metastasis screening
  • Referrals concerning contrast enhanced examinations

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Accuracy of surgeon-performed ultrasound
Time Frame: 13 months
Compared to radiologist-performed ultrasound
13 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Karolinska Institutet

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Anders Sonden, MD. PhD, Karolinska institutet södersjukhuset

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 2011

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

November 1, 2012

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

November 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 3, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 9, 2015

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

June 12, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

June 12, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 9, 2015

Last Verified

June 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2011/1025-31/1

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Gallstones

Clinical Trials on ultrasound

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Djibouti

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe