Physiotherapist performed Point of Care Ultrasonography (POCUS): a scoping review of 209 studies

Background: Point of care ultrasonography (POCUS) is a non-ionizing imaging technique that is emerging in physiotherapy practice.

Objective: To systematically map the research literature on physiotherapist performed POCUS.

Data sources: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, OVID Medline, CINAHL, AMED, and EMBASE were searched.

Eligibility criteria: Peer-reviewed publications of physiotherapist performed POCUS were included.

Data extraction and data synthesis: Data collected included: title, author(s), journal, year of publication, design of included studies, sample size, age category of the sample, anatomical area of POCUS, geographical location of research, study setting, and disease condition/patient population. Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics for the key characteristics of each research question.

Results: A total of 18 217 titles and abstracts and 1 372 full-text citations were screened, with 209 studies included. Most included studies were measurement studies that assessed the psychometric properties of POCUS in adult patients, were published in the United States of America and imaged the abdominal lumbo-pelvic region. Eighty-two percent of studies were published in the last 10 years.

Limitations: Non-English language, review articles and grey literature were excluded for feasibility. Studies were excluded if it was not clearly reported that a physiotherapist performed the POCUS.

Conclusion: This review identified a wide variety of practice settings and a diverse number of patient conditions in which physiotherapists are performing POCUS. This breadth and depth of this review highlighted the need for improved reporting of study methodology and key areas of future research in physiotherapy performed POCUS. CONTRIBUTION OF THE PAPER.