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Impact of clinical history on choice of abdominal/pelvic CT protocol in the Emergency Department.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:Radiologists and other specialty consultants play a role in diagnosing patients with acute abdominal conditions. Numerous Computed Tomography (CT) protocols are available and radiologists' choices are influenced by the clinical history provided. We hypothesize that the quality of the initial communication between referring physicians and radiologists greatly affects the utilization of health resources and subsequent patient care. The purpose of this pilot study was to employ a grading system to quantitatively evaluate a provided history. We also sought to evaluate inter-rater reliability by having radiologists evaluate sample histories and finally, to assess whether the quality of history has an impact on the number of CT protocols radiologists choose as potentially appropriate, with less potential protocols being seen as a positive outcome. METHODS:Four reviewers, (2 attendings and 2 residents) evaluated 350 consecutive clinical histories provided for patients presenting to a tertiary care Emergency Department (ED) between September-October, 2012. Reviewers graded histories on a 5-point scale using 4 categories of criteria. This includes a) presenting complaint, b) relevant past medical history or symptom evolution, c) objective laboratory or prior examination results and d) differential diagnosis. RESULTS:There was substantial agreement among all four reviewers when evaluating the quality of history, ICC 0.61, (95% CI 0.48-0.71). In particular, agreement amongst attending radiologists was substantial, with ICC 0.69 (0.48-0.80). Significant negative correlation was observed between history grade and number of potentially appropriate protocols in 3 of 4 reviewers (Spearman's rho: -0.394, -0.639, -0.864, p <0.0001 for these reviewers). This correlation was significantly stronger for attending radiologists (Spearman's rho: -0.763, 95% CI -0.7933 to -0.731; p<0.0001). Agreement was poor among reviewers when asked exactly how many protocols could potentially be used to answer the clinical question based on provided history, ICC 0.08, (95% -0.03-0.13). CONCLUSION:Although there is still variability in radiologists' approach to protocoling urgent studies, a more comprehensive requisition history narrowed the number of protocols considered.

SUBMITTER: Dang W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6080782 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Impact of clinical history on choice of abdominal/pelvic CT protocol in the Emergency Department.

Dang Wilfred W Stefanski Pawel D PD Kielar Ania Z AZ El-Khodary Mohamed M van der Pol Christian C Thornhill Rebecca R Jaberi Arash A Fu Angel Y N AYN McInnes Matthew D MD

PloS one 20180807 8

<h4>Introduction</h4>Radiologists and other specialty consultants play a role in diagnosing patients with acute abdominal conditions. Numerous Computed Tomography (CT) protocols are available and radiologists' choices are influenced by the clinical history provided. We hypothesize that the quality of the initial communication between referring physicians and radiologists greatly affects the utilization of health resources and subsequent patient care. The purpose of this pilot study was to employ ...[more]

PMID: 30086148

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Project description:IntroductionSimulation-based studies indicate that crisis checklist use improves management of patients with critical conditions in the emergency department (ED). An interview-based study suggests that use of an emergency manual (EM)-a collection of crisis checklists-improves management of clinical perioperative crises. There is a need for in-depth prospective studies of EM use during clinical practice, evaluating when and how EMs are used and impact on patient management.Methods and analysisThis 6-month long study prospectively evaluates a digital EM during management of priority 1 patients in the Skåne University Hospital at Lund's ED. Resuscitation teams are encouraged to use the EM after a management plan has been derived ('Do-Confirm'). The documenting nurse activates and reads from the EM, and checklists are displayed on a large screen visible to all team members. Whether the EM is activated, and which sections are displayed, are automatically recorded. Interventions performed thanks to Do-Confirm EM use are registered by the nurse. Fifty cases featuring such interventions are reviewed by specialists in emergency medicine blinded to whether the interventions were performed prior to or after EM use. All interventions are graded as indicated, of neutral relevance or not indicated. The primary outcome measures are the proportions of interventions performed thanks to Do-Confirm EM use graded as indicated, of neutral relevance, and not indicated. A secondary outcome measure is the team's subjective evaluation of the EM's value on a Likert scale of 1-6. Team members can report events related to EM use, and information from these events is extracted through structured interviews.Ethics and disseminationThe study is approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Dnr 2022-01896-01). Results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and abstracts submitted to national and international conferences to disseminate our findings.Trial registration numberNCT05649891.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:Children needing intravenous antibiotics for cellulitis are usually admitted to hospital, whereas adults commonly receive intravenous treatment at home. This is a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of intravenous antibiotic treatment of cellulitis in children comparing administration of ceftriaxone at home with standard care of flucloxacillin in hospital. The study aims to compare (1) the rate of treatment failure at home versus hospital (2) the safety of treatment at home versus hospital; and (3) the effect of exposure to short course ceftriaxone versus flucloxacillin on nasal and gut micro-organism resistance patterns and the clinical implications. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: INCLUSION CRITERIA:children aged 6 months to <18 years with uncomplicated moderate/severe cellulitis, requiring intravenous antibiotics. EXCLUSIONS:complicated cellulitis (eg, orbital, foreign body) and immunosuppressed or toxic patients. The study is a single-centre, open-label, non-inferiority RCT. It is set in the emergency department (ED) at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne, Australia and the Hospital-in-the-Home (HITH) programme; a home-care programme, which provides outreach from RCH. Recruitment will occur in ED from January 2015 to December 2016. Participants will be randomised to either treatment in hospital, or transfer home under the HITH programme. The calculated sample size is 188 patients (94 per group) and data will be analysed by intention-to-treat. PRIMARY OUTCOME:treatment failure defined as a change in treatment due to lack of clinical improvement according to the treating physician or adverse events, within 48 h SECONDARY OUTCOMES:readmission to hospital, representation, adverse events, length of stay, microbiological results, development of resistance, cost-effectiveness, patient/parent satisfaction. This study has started recruitment. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:This study has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the RCH Melbourne (34254C) and registered with the ClinicalTrials.gov registry (NCT02334124). We aim to disseminate the findings through international peer-reviewed journals and conferences. CLINICAL TRIAL:Pre-results.

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Impact of clinical history on choice of abdominal/pelvic CT protocol in the Emergency Department.

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Impact of clinical history on choice of abdominal/pelvic CT protocol in the Emergency Department.

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