Critical care ultrasound among Tunisian intensive care residents: A Cross-sectional Survey.

Introduction: Critical Care ultrasound (CCUS) is more and more used in Tunisian critical care units. An objective assessment of this training has not yet been performed.

Aim: To assess the theoretical and practical knowledge about CCUS among Intensive Care Unit (ICU) residents.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted during the period from January to June 2021. Data were collected using a French language questionnaire distributed on the day of the selection of the residents' posts for the next training period (at the end of June 2021).

Results: Out of 75 residents, 37 accepted to answer to the survey (Participation rate =49 %). The majority were female (66.4%). The mean age was 29±12.36 years. Only 5.4% of participants (n=2) had previously received training concerning echocardiography and only 8.1% of the participants have received dedicated training for lung ultrasound (LU). Among the participants, 80.1% of residents (n=30) had never performed a transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Competence in performing echocardiography was self-assessed quite good and bad by 5.4% and 43.2% of responders respectively. Most of the residents (86%) did not insert before ultrasound-guided central venous catheters. Views known by the participants using TTE were mainly parasternal long axis section (56.8%) and apical 4/5 chambers section (52.8%). All participants (100%) thought that teaching CCU is a necessary part of the training of intensivists.

Conclusion: Our study highlighted the lack of training of Tunisian ICU residents regarding CCUS learning. Therefore, it is crucial to integrate such learning and training into their training programs.