Role of portable ultrasound during a short-term medical service trip to rural Guatemala: a collaborative mission of trainees and physicians.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION\nAccess to health care in developing countries is scarce. One solution to this problem has been for doctors from the USA to provide single-visit care through short-term medical service trips. There is interest in using ultrasound imaging as a portable diagnostic tool; however, data describing its usefulness are scarce. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the usefulness of portable ultrasound imaging during a medical service trip to rural Guatemala.\n\n\nMETHODS\nA multidisciplinary team of physicians examined patients at a mobile clinic in Antigua, Guatemala. Patients with clinical indications for ultrasound had their suspected diagnoses recorded before ultrasound testing. After imaging, updated diagnoses were recorded and compared with the pre-test suspected diagnoses to determine how often ultrasound results changed the medical management of the patients and to assess the most common indications for ultrasound imaging.\n\n\nRESULTS\nDuring the trip, 205 patients were seen. Of these, 24 (12%) were given ultrasound exams. The results of 13 (54%) exams altered their medical management, and the remaining 11 (46%) exams confirmed the pre-test suspected diagnoses. The most common indications for ultrasound testing were suspected cardiac (11 patients, 46%) and gastrointestinal (8 patients, 33%) diseases.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nPortable ultrasound imaging improved the medical team s ability to diagnose disease and clinically manage patients in a rural medical service trip. Ultrasound imaging may provide a low-cost solution to the growing demand for care in developing countries.