Errors in imaging assessment of polytrauma patients

Abstract

Although the use of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) has increased the diagnostic quality by reducing the number of missed diagnoses in polytraumatized patients, errors remain a common phenomenon in emergency room setting. MDCT errors, contributing more commonly to missed or delayed diagnoses in polytrauma patients, are diagnostic errors commonly related to perceptual errors or to nonvisual errors. However, in some cases, misdiagnoses can be attributed to technical and methodological errors leading to incomplete or poor-quality imaging. Knowledge of common patterns of error is the most effective way to avoid future errors. The purpose of this article is to highlight the most frequent types of diagnostic errors in evaluating with MDCT of polytrauma patients.