Basseal Jocelyne M, Westerway Susan Campbell, Hyett Jon A
Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Infectious Diseases & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia.
Infect Dis Health. 2020 Mar;25(2):77-81. doi: 10.1016/j.idh.2019.11.003. Epub 2019 Dec 18.
Ultrasound probe covers should be used for any ultrasound procedure where there is contact with body fluids or mucous membranes. The type and quality of probe covers used in clinical practice differ widely and studies in the early 1990s showed that condoms were more superior for use with transvaginal examinations than commercial probe covers. Since then, although products have changed, there have been no further studies to assess the breakage rate of different probe covers. The objectives of this study were to assess the integrity of the most commonly used probe covers for transvaginal ultrasound examinations under clinical conditions and report the breakage rate.
The study was conducted in public and private hospitals and private practices. A total of 500 covers for each of 10 brands of commercial covers and condoms (latex and latex free) were distributed to ultrasound practitioners. The transvaginal ultrasound examination practice was unchanged except that all covers were placed in a container for assessment instead of discarding post ultrasound examination. All covers were collected and subjected to a water leak test. Covers that broke upon deployment onto the ultrasound probe prior to the ultrasound examination were recorded. All covers that were broken or had microtears or leaks were recorded as well as photographed. Statistical analysis was performed along with Chi-squared analysis of the data and significance considered at P < 0.05.
None of the commercial covers broke upon deployment onto the ultrasound probe prior to ultrasound examination. A total of 5000 probe covers were examined post-transvaginal ultrasound examinations. The breakage rate for condoms ranged from 0.4% to 13% and for commercial covers 0-5%. Statistical analysis of the data by comparison of p-values revealed that the best performing group were the commercial non-latex probe covers and worst performing group were the non-latex condoms.
The breakage rates for commercial covers were not as high as previously reported and do not break upon deployment onto the ultrasound probe. This is the first comprehensive study that thoroughly evaluated the integrity of commercial covers and condoms used for transvaginal ultrasound examination in a clinical setting, with regards to brand, numbers and types of covers assessed.
在任何与体液或黏膜有接触的超声检查中，都应使用超声探头套。临床实践中使用的探头套类型和质量差异很大，20世纪90年代初的研究表明，在经阴道检查中使用避孕套比商用探头套更具优势。从那时起，尽管产品有所变化，但尚未有进一步研究评估不同探头套的破损率。本研究的目的是在临床条件下评估经阴道超声检查最常用探头套的完整性，并报告破损率。
该研究在公立医院、私立医院和私人诊所进行。向超声检查从业者分发了10个品牌的商用探头套和避孕套（乳胶和无乳胶），每种各500个。经阴道超声检查操作不变，只是所有探头套在超声检查后被放入一个容器中进行评估，而不是丢弃。收集所有探头套并进行漏水测试。记录在超声检查前套在超声探头上时破裂的探头套。记录所有破裂、有微小撕裂或漏水的探头套，并拍照。进行统计分析以及对数据的卡方分析，P < 0.05时认为具有统计学意义。
在超声检查前套在超声探头上时，没有商用探头套破裂。经阴道超声检查后共检查了5000个探头套。避孕套的破损率在0.4%至13%之间，商用探头套的破损率在0%至5%之间。通过比较p值对数据进行统计分析表明，表现最佳的组是商用无乳胶探头套，表现最差 的组是无乳胶避孕套。
商用探头套的破损率并不像之前报道的那么高，并且在套在超声探头上时不会破裂。这是第一项在临床环境中全面评估用于经阴道超声检查的商用探头套和避孕套完整性的研究，涉及评估的探头套品牌、数量和类型。
