Breast and Endocrine Surgery Unit, Maroondah Hospital, Eastern Health, Davey Drive, Ringwood East, Melbourne, VIC 3135, Australia.
World J Surg. 2013 Sep;37(9):2148-54. doi: 10.1007/s00268-013-2076-8.
Surgeon performed ultrasound (US) is being increasingly embraced by breast surgeons worldwide as an integral part of patient assessment. The extent of its application within Australia and New Zealand is not well documented. The present study aimed to evaluate its current usage patterns and to determine suitable future training models.
An online survey was sent to members of Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand (BreastSurgANZ) between July and September 2010, with emphases on practice demographics, access to US equipment, usage, biopsy patterns, and training.
Of the 126 surveys sent, 59 were returned. The majority of respondents were metropolitan based (64 %), worked in both public and private sectors (71 %), and practiced endocrine or general surgery (85 %), as well as breast surgery. A preponderance of surgeons had access to equipment (63 %), performed at least 1 US monthly (63 %), but did not perform regular guided biopsies. Rural practice did not affect access or usage patterns. Most respondents underwent structured US training (73 %), which was associated with greater US and biopsy usage, biopsy complexity, intraoperative applications, and cross discipline applications (p < 0.03). Most surgeons favored a structured training program for future trainees (83 %).
The majority of breast surgeons from Australia and New Zealand have adopted office US to varying degrees. Geographic variation did not lead to access inequity and variation in scanning patterns. Formal US training may result in a wider scope of clinical applications by increasing operator confidence and is the preferred model within a specialist breast surgical curriculum.
外科医生进行超声（US）检查正被世界各地的乳腺外科医生越来越多地接受，作为患者评估的一个组成部分。其在澳大利亚和新西兰的应用程度尚未得到很好的记录。本研究旨在评估其当前的使用模式，并确定合适的未来培训模式。
2010 年 7 月至 9 月期间，向澳大利亚和新西兰乳腺外科医生协会（BreastSurgANZ）的成员发送了一份在线调查，重点是实践人口统计学、US 设备的使用情况、使用情况、活检模式和培训。
共发出 126 份调查，收回 59 份。大多数受访者来自大都市地区（64%），在公共和私营部门工作（71%），从事内分泌或普通外科以及乳腺外科工作。大多数外科医生都有设备（63%），每月至少进行 1 次 US 检查（63%），但不进行常规引导活检。农村执业并不影响访问或使用模式。大多数受访者接受了结构化的 US 培训（73%），这与更多的 US 和活检使用、活检复杂性、术中应用和跨学科应用相关（p < 0.03）。大多数外科医生赞成为未来的受训者提供结构化的培训计划（83%）。
澳大利亚和新西兰的大多数乳腺外科医生已经在不同程度上采用了门诊 US。地理位置的差异并没有导致访问不公平和扫描模式的差异。正式的 US 培训可能会通过增加操作人员的信心，从而扩大临床应用范围，并在专业乳腺外科课程中成为首选模式。
