Comments on «Importance of ultrasound in a department of endocrinology»

Sir,

I read with great satisfaction the editorial of your journal where I. Argüelles and S. Tofé proposed the wide use of neck ultrasound examination at endocrinology outpatient clinics.¹ The defense of the participation of endocrinologists in clinical procedures where they are most efficient is no less than the defense of health system users. This is something that our specialty has not always been able to accomplish.

The department where I work has been performing neck ultrasound examinations at outpatient clinics since 2009. Our experience has some unique characteristics that may be of interest for the readers of Endocrinología y Nutrición. Some time ago it was decided to locate the ultrasound equipment at the clinic occupied by the resident specialist during the 12 months of his/her training. The resident uses the equipment, supervised by an appropriate associate physician, for the diagnosis of anatomic changes and thyroidectomy follow-up. According to our data, each resident performs a mean of 192 ultrasound examinations and 108 fine needle aspirations (FNAs) under supervision. This agrees with data previously reported by editorial authors² showing that ultrasound equipment located at the endocrinologist clinic eliminates waiting lists for ultrasound-guided puncture. The performance of ultrasound-guided FNA at the endocrinology clinic has not weakened our relationship with the pathology department, but has actually reinforced it as we have jointly developed a modification of the technique that significantly decreases the number of non-diagnostic punctures.³ We encourage endocrinology departments to install ultrasound equipments at their clinics, and agree with the authors of the text on the need for the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition to position itself regarding our role in the performance of neck ultrasound examination.