Sonographers in Australia commonly perform transvaginal sonography (TVS) as part of routine practice. Sonographers require guidelines for best practice when performing TVS examinations to enable patient satisfaction and best healthcare outcomes and to minimise risk of complaints and litigation, which may arise due to the intimate nature of the examination. We performed a literature review to provide insight into the perceptions of women who have experienced a TVS. Six studies were identified, which explored the perceptions of women who had undertaken a TVS. This review identifies strategies that may have contributed to high acceptance rates of TVS. The findings of the review were inconclusive in determining women's preferences for male or female TVS examiners and revealed that guidelines encouraging sonographers to have a chaperone when they perform TVS appear to be in conflict with women's preferences.
Introduction: It is important to understand patient experiences of transvaginal sonography (TVS) due to its intimate nature and potential for patient discomfort. This may place the sonographer at increased risk of complaints and litigation due to misunderstandings and unfulfilled patient expectations.Methods: The critical incident technique was used to elicit the personal experiences of sonographers performing TVS to provide perspectives of sonographer practices and their perceptions of patient experiences. Nine sonographers were asked to recall up to two positive and two negative critical incidents relating to the procedure and patient interaction during TVS. Data were analysed using staged thematic analysis.Results: Nine distinct themes emerged from the analysis; patient comfort, chaperones and companions, sonographer gender, patient privacy, language and culture, communication, patient empowerment, sonographer advocacy for the patient, and previous experiences or preconceptions. Each theme was reported in context of current relevant Australian guidelines.Discussion: Guidelines are helpful to guide the practice of TVS but do not comprehensively cover all issues raised by the sonographer participants in their goal to effect positive experiences for their patients. Sonographers can be further supported through education and review of existing local department procedures that relate to the practice of shared decision making, cultural competence, and anxiety reducing strategies. Funding: None Conflict of Interest: NoneSonography 4 55-62
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