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. 2013:2013:678380.
doi: 10.1155/2013/678380. Epub 2013 Aug 29.

Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma and Abdominal Computed Tomography Utilization in Adult Trauma Patients: Trends over the Last Decade

Alexander Y Sheng  1 , Peregrine Dalziel, Andrew S Liteplo, Peter Fagenholz, Vicki E Noble
Affiliations

Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma and Abdominal Computed Tomography Utilization in Adult Trauma Patients: Trends over the Last Decade

Alexander Y Sheng et al. Emerg Med Int. 2013.

Abstract

Objective. We sought to describe the trend in abdominal CT use in adult trauma patients after a point-of-care emergency ultrasound program was introduced. We hypothesized that abdominal CT use would decrease as FAST use increased. Methods. We performed a retrospective study of 19940 consecutive trauma patients over the age of 18 admitted to our level one trauma center from 2002 through 2011. Data was collected retrospectively and recorded in a trauma registry. We plotted the rate of FAST and abdominal CT utilization over time. Head CT was used as a surrogate for overall CT utilization rates during the study period. Results. Use of FAST increased by an average of 2.3% (95% CI 2.1 to 2.5, P < 0.01) while abdominal CT use decreased by the same rate annually. The percentage of patients who received FAST as the sole imaging modality for the abdomen rose from 2.0% to 21.9% while those who only received an abdominal CT dropped from 21.7% to 2.3%. Conclusions. Abdominal CT use in our cohort declined while FAST utilization grew in the last decade. The rising use of FAST may have played a role in the reduction of abdominal CT performed as decline in CT utilization appears contrary to overall trends.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of patients in which a head CT, abdominal CT, and FAST were performed by year.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of patients in whom the result of the abdominal CT was negative by year.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of patients who received only one imaging modality of the abdomen in the ED by year.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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