Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine

Background: Peritonsillar abscesses (PTAs) are encountered routinely in clinical practice. Ultrasoundguided aspiration has been proven both safe and effective in treating this condition. However, to date, there are no easily produced, low-cost models that enable the practice of point-of-care ultrasound-guided PTA aspiration and PTA diagnosis. Objectives: The objective was to create a low-cost, easy-to-produce, ultrasound phantom to train emergency physicians on ultrasound-guided PTA drainage. Methods: We improved on previous work with ultrasound phantoms by creating a refillable phantom that approximates the oral cavity. This enabled learners to gain the manual dexterity necessary to operate an intraoral ultrasound probe while also aspirating a PTA. Results: We have created a low-cost ultrasound phantom that is amenable to repeated ultrasound-guided aspirations for the purpose of training both resident- and attending-level physicians. Conclusion: With minimal lead time and readily available equipment, we successfully created a low-cost ultrasound phantom for the purpose of PTA identification and drainage (c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.