Are emergency physicians competent to interpret the cranial CT of patients younger than the age of 2 years with mild head trauma? - 04/09/15
Abstract |
Objective |
The aim of this study is to detect the accuracy rate of emergency physicians' (EPs') interpretations of cranial computed tomography (CT) of a special patient group, the patients younger than the age of 2 years with mild head trauma.
Methods |
The study took place in a research and training hospital within a period of 3 months and included a total of 156 patients. The scans were interpreted by the EPs, and the predicted results were recorded in the patients' files; simultaneous interpretations of the on-call radiologist were also recorded. The interpretations were scanned retrospectively at the end of each month, compared, and recorded.
Results |
With reference to the radiologists' reports, the sensitivity and the specificity of EPs' interpretations of cranial CT were 76.9% and 95.1%, respectively. Concordance of both groups' interpretations was 93.6%. The area under the curve (AUC) value in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, which reflects these results, was calculated as 0.860 (95% confidence interval, 0.740-0.981). This value was found to be statistically significant (P < .001). False-negative and false-positive values were 23% and 4.9%, respectively. No negative clinical outcomes were observed due to nonconcordance interpreted cases (6.4%).
Conclusions |
Emergency physicians can interpret safely the cranial CTs of patients younger than the age of 2 years with mild head trauma, until the radiologists' reports are obtained. However, the anatomic diversities of these patients' age group should be taken into consideration.
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☆ | Funding: There are no funders to report for this study. |
☆☆ | Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interest (including financial and other relationships). |
Vol 33 - N° 9
P. 1175-1177 - septembre 2015 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
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