Medical Expert Advocates Increased Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Hospitals
By Vanessa Obioha
Chief Medical Officer of Lagos Multi Specialist Hospital, R-Jolad, Dr Abiola Fasina, has urged hospitals to adopt the use of Point-of-care Ultrasound (POCUS) to improve clinical decision-making and bridge the diagnostic imaging gap for patients, including for lung pathology.
Dr Fasina said this at the two-day 2021 hybrid pre-conference workshop of the Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Thoracic Society (NTS) themed “Pulmonary Care: The Patient, the Practice and the Pandemic”.
According to her, this will increase the overall treatment and diagnosis of patients.
She argued that supporting a Computerized Tomography scan (CT scan) or a Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan (MRI scan) can be particularly challenging for hospitals due to the cost of the initial equipment investment combined with infrastructural issues including maintenance and repair requirements. Hence the call for scale-up of diagnostics ultrasound and x-ray capacity in particular.
She pointed out that POCUS had long been employed in resource-limited settings and had led to improvements in clinical decision making.
“Access to diagnostic imaging to improve clinical decision making remains a challenge in resource-limited settings such as Nigeria. The WHO has advocated for expanded global access to ultrasound teaching and technology for health providers as two-thirds of the world’s population currently has no access to imaging technologies.
“Therefore, expanding access to ultrasound and specifically, POCUS in the hands of clinicians at the bedside, is of primary importance to help doctors manage patients better and decrease the incidence of medical mistakes. Lung POCUS shined during the COVID-19 pandemic and helped manage acute and critically ill patients better,” she said at the workshop which kicked off on November 16.
Furthermore, she noted that the purchase and maintenance costs of ultrasound machines were relatively inexpensive compared to CT and MRI and were becoming more portable and affordable.
She, however, said support was needed at all levels and from key decision-makers to support the purchase of machines and the training of clinicians in the various POCUS modalities to serve Nigerians better at their time of medical need.
Dr Fasina aims to be at the forefront of the adoption of POCUS in Nigeria by providing an avenue for training locally.
Over the years, R-Jolad has helped instil confidence in the average Nigerian citizen by providing affordable and accessible healthcare services. The hospital’s core strength over its almost four decades of existence is attributable to its service diversification and innovative excellence.
