Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep 14:40:35.
doi: 10.11604/pamj.2021.40.35.26349. eCollection 2021.

Audit of the appropriateness of the indication for obstetric sonography in a tertiary facility in Ghana

Emmanuel Kobina Mesi Edzie  1 , Klenam Dzefi-Tettey  2 , Philip Narteh Gorleku  1 , Edmund Kwakye Brakohiapa  3 , Benard Ohene Botwe  4 , Adu Tutu Amankwa  5 , Ewurama Andam Idun  6 , Henry Kusodzi  1 , Abdul Raman Asemah  1
Affiliations

Audit of the appropriateness of the indication for obstetric sonography in a tertiary facility in Ghana

Emmanuel Kobina Mesi Edzie et al. Pan Afr Med J. .

Abstract

Introduction: the use of ultrasound is one of the most vital tools in the management of pregnancies and contributes significantly in improving maternal and child health. Certain indications in pregnancy, guide the obstetrician as to which obstetric scan deems appropriate. The full realization of the benefits of ultrasound depends on whether it is being used appropriately or not, and hence this study aimed at auditing for the appropriate indications for obstetric ultrasound.

Methods: a review of all request forms for obstetric scan between June 2019 and July 2020 was performed to assess the appropriateness of requests for obstetric ultrasound at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. The data obtained was analyzed using SPSS (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL version 20.0). A Chi-squared test of independence was used to check for statistically significant differences between variables at p ≤ 0.05.

Results: three hundred and fourteen (314) out of the 527 request forms had clinical indications stated. 174 (81.7%) of requests from Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and 39 (18.3%) from other health centers did not indicate patients clinical history/indication on the request forms. Majority 76 (68.5%) of scans in the first trimester were done without indications/history. Only 29 of requests with clinical history were inappropriate.

Conclusion: practitioners should be mindful of adequately completing request forms for obstetric investigations since a large number of practitioners do not state the history/indications for the scans. There should be continuous medical education on the importance of appropriate indication for obstetric ultrasound.

Keywords: Audit; Ghana; indications; obstetric ultrasound; request forms; tertiary facility.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
proportion of request forms with/without history/indication in the various trimesters
Figure 2
Figure 2
appropriateness of clinical indications in the various trimesters compared with ACR-AIUM-ACOG guidelines
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Kim ET, Singh Kavita, Moran Allisyn, Armbruster Deborah, Kozuki Naoko. Obstetric ultrasound use in low and middle income countries: a narrative review. Reprod Health. 2018 Jul 20;15(1):129. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Herbst MK, Tafti Dawood, Shanahan MM. StatPearls [Internet] Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2017. Obstetric Ultrasound [Updated 2020 Jul 31]. - PubMed
    1. Committee on Practice Bulletins-Obstetrics and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine Practice bulletin no. 175 ultrasound in pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Dec;128(6):e241–e256. - PubMed
    1. Salomon LJ, Alfirevic Zarko, Raine-Fenning Nicholas, Timor-Tritsch I, Seshadri S. ISUOG practice guidelines: performance of first-trimester fetal ultrasound scan. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2013 Jan;41(1):102–13. - PubMed
    1. Crino J, Finberg HJ, Frieden F, Kuller J, Odibo A, Robichaux A, et al. AIUM practice guideline for the performance of obstetric ultrasound examinations. J Ultrasound Med. 2013 Jun;32(6):1083–101. - PubMed