Immersion ultrasonography improves the repeatability of cephalic vein diameter measurements for inexperienced operators

Objective To reduce the empirical dependence of ultrasound measurement of the cephalic vein diameter, improve the repeatability of measurements for inexperienced operators, and provide a new method for inexperienced operators.Methods Operators without ultrasound experience used contact ultrasound an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhijun Zhang, Shu He, Hui Wang, Yu Zhong, Hairong Zou, Xuan Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2022-12-01
Series:Renal Failure
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/0886022X.2022.2131573
Description
Summary:Objective To reduce the empirical dependence of ultrasound measurement of the cephalic vein diameter, improve the repeatability of measurements for inexperienced operators, and provide a new method for inexperienced operators.Methods Operators without ultrasound experience used contact ultrasound and immersion ultrasound to measure the diameter of the cephalic vein. The intraobserver and interobserver repeatability of measurements obtained via the two methods were analyzed.Results The intraobserver and interobserver repeatability of the cephalic vein diameter measured via contact ultrasound by inexperienced operators were average, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of 0.572 (95% CI: 0.239–0.759) and 0.405 (95% CI: −0.057–0.666), respectively. The intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility of the cephalic vein diameter measured by immersion ultrasound were very good, with ICCs of 0.955 (95% CI: 0.922–0.975) and 0.943 (95% CI: 0.900–0.967), respectively. In the Bland–Altman diagram of the intraobserver and interobserver agreement of the immersion ultrasound measurements of the cephalic vein diameter, 96% of the points fell within the 95% limits of agreement.Conclusion Immersion ultrasonography can be used to measure the cephalic vein diameter while reducing the dependence of the results on operator experience; inexperienced operators can achieve very good repeatability.
ISSN:0886-022X
1525-6049