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A clinical audit of anatomical side marker use in a paediatric medical imaging department.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:The gold standard in general radiography is to place a radiopaque anatomical side marker in the field of view for each radiographic image prior to exposure. The advent of digital radiography has allowed for anatomical side markers to be digitally added to films as part of post-processing. The aim of this audit was to identify whether general X-ray images performed in a tertiary Women's and Children's Hospital were being appropriately annotated with a definitive side marker, and to identify factors that may contribute to inappropriately labelled images. METHODS:Four hundred images from 201 patients' examinations occurring within a randomly selected time period were assessed to ascertain whether radiographic anatomical side markers were visible when images were viewed via the hospitals main viewing platform. The audit occurred in January 2014. The scope included both mobile and in-department general X-ray examinations, with the patient age range extending from 1 day to 18 years. RESULTS:Of the 400 images evaluated, 88 (22%) were found to have a lead marker that matched the anatomy being imaged within the primary beam; 289 (72.3%) images contained a correct digital marker inserted as part of the post-processing of the image. In total, 377 (94.2%) images were appropriately marked. Of the 23 (5.8%) images not marked correctly, 22 images had no marker and 1 was incorrectly marked with a digital marker. There was a noticeable relationship between absent anatomical markers and chest X-rays performed outside of the medical imaging department. CONCLUSIONS:While it is encouraging that the majority of the images assessed were correctly annotated, with only a small number of missing markers, there are opportunities for further improvement. The audit findings suggest that reduced access to lead markers influences marker use. Strategies that may improve compliance at an individual level include distribution of personalised anatomical side markers, and targeted staff education sessions. At a department level, regular audits and monitoring should be encouraged.

SUBMITTER: Barry K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5016612 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A clinical audit of anatomical side marker use in a paediatric medical imaging department.

Barry Kate K Kumar Saravana S Linke Rebecca R Dawes Emma E

Journal of medical radiation sciences 20160525 3

<h4>Introduction</h4>The gold standard in general radiography is to place a radiopaque anatomical side marker in the field of view for each radiographic image prior to exposure. The advent of digital radiography has allowed for anatomical side markers to be digitally added to films as part of post-processing. The aim of this audit was to identify whether general X-ray images performed in a tertiary Women's and Children's Hospital were being appropriately annotated with a definitive side marker, ...[more]

PMID: 27648278

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Project description:ObjectivesTo describe clinical characteristics and management of acute lymphadenitis and to identify risk factors for complications.MethodsHealth record review of children ≤17 years with acute lymphadenitis (≤2 weeks) in a tertiary paediatric emergency department (2009-2014); 10% of charts were reviewed by a blinded second reviewer. Multivariate logistic regression identified factors associated with intravenous antibiotic treatment, unplanned return visits warranting intervention, and surgical drainage.ResultsOf 1,023 health records, 567 participants with acute lymphadenitis were analyzed. The median age = 4 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 2 to 8 years), and median duration of symptoms = 1.0 day (IQR: 0.5 to 3.0 days). Cervical lymphadenitis was most common. Antibiotics were prescribed in 73.5% of initial visits; 86.9% of participants were discharged home. 29.0% received intravenous antibiotics, 19.3% had unplanned emergency department return visits, and 7.4% underwent surgical drainage. On multivariate analysis, factors associated with intravenous antibiotic use included history of fever (odds ratio [OR]=2.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11 to 3.92), size (OR=1.74 per cm, 95% CI: 1.44 to 2.14), age (OR=0.84 per year, 95% CI: 0.76 to 0.92), and prior antibiotic use (OR=4.45, 95% CI: 2.03 to 9.88). The factors associated with unplanned return visit warranting intervention was size (OR=1.30 per cm, 95% CI: 1.06 to 1.59) and age (OR=0.89, 95% CI: 0.80 to 0.97). Factors associated with surgical drainage were age (OR=0.68 per year, 95% CI: 0.53 to 0.83) and size (OR=1.80 per cm, 95% CI: 1.41 to 2.36).ConclusionsThe vast majority of children with acute lymphadenitis were managed with outpatient oral antibiotics and did not require return emergency department visits or surgical drainage. Larger lymph node size and younger age were associated with increased intravenous antibiotic initiation, unplanned return visits warranting intervention and surgical drainage.

Dataset Information

A clinical audit of anatomical side marker use in a paediatric medical imaging department.

Publications

A clinical audit of anatomical side marker use in a paediatric medical imaging department.

Similar Datasets

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