Yang Xinyu, Deslandes Alison, Cross Teresa, Childs Jessie
Allied Health and Human Performance Unit University of South Australia Adelaide Australia.
Robinson Research Institute University of Adelaide Adelaide Australia.
Australas J Ultrasound Med. 2025 May 22;28(2):e70003. doi: 10.1002/ajum.70003. eCollection 2025 May.
INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: The 2016 consensus statement from the International Deep Endometriosis Analysis group (IDEA) outlined a transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) approach specific for the sonographic assessment of endometriosis (eTVUS). However, eTVUS remains a nonroutine sonographic examination, and the reasons for this are not fully understood. This study aimed to explore the current performance of eTVUS among Australian sonographers and the barriers and facilitators encountered when learning and implementing eTVUS into routine practice.
An online cross-sectional survey was disseminated to Australian sonographers. Quantitative and qualitative questions were asked regarding demographic information, eTVUS performance and experiences encountered when learning and implementing eTVUS. Statistical and thematic analyses were performed.
In total, 127 responses were analysed, with 47.8% of respondents performing a full or partial eTVUS routinely. When a gynaecological ultrasound is referred, 18.4% of participants reported performing a full assessment of eTVUS, and 29.8% reported performing a partial assessment of eTVUS. When a partial eTVUS was performed, respondents indicated this mostly included an assessment of the sliding sign (94.6%) and ovarian mobility (97.3%), rather than a search for endometriotic nodules. Only 41.5% of all participants reported confidence in performing eTVUS.The main barriers that limited the uptake of eTVUS were limited supervision/mentors (42.3%), limited reporting of eTVUS (39.6%) and its steep learning curve (38.7%). The main facilitators included sonographers' desire to answer the clinical question for suspected endometriosis (84.0%), external education (38.7%), local department protocols (30.7%) and colleagues who perform eTVUS (30.7%).
While eTVUS, or aspects of it, are being performed in most imaging practices, inconsistency exists for the anatomical structures assessed as part of an eTVUS. Although barriers exist, more education surrounding eTVUS for sonographers, reporting doctors, and referrers could help increase uptake into routine practice.
引言/目的：国际深部子宫内膜异位症分析小组（IDEA）2016年的共识声明概述了一种专门用于子宫内膜异位症超声评估的经阴道超声（TVUS）方法（eTVUS）。然而，eTVUS仍然不是一项常规的超声检查，其原因尚未完全明确。本研究旨在探讨澳大利亚超声检查人员目前对eTVUS的操作情况，以及在学习和将eTVUS应用于常规实践过程中遇到的障碍和促进因素。
对澳大利亚的超声检查人员进行了一项在线横断面调查。询问了有关人口统计学信息、eTVUS操作情况以及学习和实施eTVUS过程中遇到的经历的定量和定性问题。进行了统计分析和主题分析。
共分析了127份回复，47.8%的受访者常规进行全部或部分eTVUS检查。当接到妇科超声检查转诊时，18.4%的参与者报告进行了完整的eTVUS评估，29.8%的参与者报告进行了部分eTVUS评估。当进行部分eTVUS检查时，受访者表示主要包括滑动征评估（94.6%）和卵巢活动度评估（97.3%），而不是寻找子宫内膜异位结节。所有参与者中只有41.5%报告对进行eTVUS检查有信心。限制eTVUS应用的主要障碍是监督/指导人员有限（42.3%）、eTVUS报告有限（39.6%）及其陡峭的学习曲线（38.7%）。主要促进因素包括超声检查人员想要回答疑似子宫内膜异位症的临床问题（84.0%）、外部教育（38.7%）、当地科室方案（30.7%）以及进行eTVUS检查的同事（30.7%）。
虽然大多数影像科在进行eTVUS或其部分内容检查，但作为eTVUS一部分所评估的解剖结构存在不一致性。尽管存在障碍，但为超声检查人员、报告医生和转诊医生提供更多关于eTVUS的教育可能有助于增加其在常规实践中的应用。
