Effectiveness of head-mounted ultrasound display for radial arterial catheterisation in paediatric patients by anaesthesiology trainees

BACKGROUND The effectiveness of head mounted real-time ultrasound displays (hereafter referred to as ‘smart glasses’) in improving hand-eye coordination in less experienced individuals, such as trainees in anaesthesia, is unclear. OBJECTIVES To compare the first-attempt success rate of smart glasses-assisted ultrasound-guided paediatric radial artery catheterisation with conventional ultrasound guided catheterisation performed by anaesthesiology trainees. DESIGN Prospective randomised controlled trial SETTINGS Tertiary university hospital from September 2021 to February 2023. PATIENTS One hundred and twenty-two paediatric patients (age <7 years, weight ≥3 kg) who required radial artery cannulation during general anaesthesia. INTERVENTIONS The participants were randomly assigned to either the ultrasound screen group (control) or the smart glasses group prior to radial artery catheterisation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome was the first attempt success rate. Secondary outcomes included the number of attempts, use of transfixion technique, overall complication rate, and clinical anaesthesiology (CA) year of the operators. RESULTS A total of 119 paediatric patients were included in the analysis. The smart glasses group exhibited higher first-attempt success rate than did the control group (89.8% [53/59] vs. 71.7% [43/60]; P = 0.023; odds ratio (OR) 3.49; (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27–9.6). The overall number of attempts [median, 1; interquartile range (IQR), 1–1; range, 1–3 vs. median, 1; IQR, 1–2; range, 1–4; P = 0.006], use of transfixion technique (12/59 [20.3%] vs. 28/60 [46.7%]; P = 0.002), and overall complication rate (6.8% [4/59] vs. 30.0% [18/60]; P = 0.002) were lower in the smart glasses group than in the control group. However, among paediatric anaesthesiology fellows (CA 5 years), the first- (89.3% [25/28] vs. 80.8% [21/26]; P = 0.619) and second-attempt success rates (96.4% [27/28] vs. 80.8% [21/26]; P = 0.163) did not differ between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Smart glasses-assisted ultrasound guided radial artery catheterisation improved the first attempt success rate among anaesthesiology trainees, reducing the number of attempts and overall complication rates in small paediatric patients. Smart glasses were more effective for anaesthesia residents (CA 2–4 years) but were not effective for paediatric anaesthesiology fellows (CA 5 years). TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05030649; registered 1 September 2021; principal investigator, Prof. Jin-Tae Kim) (https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05030649).