Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2019
Keywords:
Action 1 - Guidelines, implementation policies, and Clinical Decision Support (ESR iGuide), Action 5 - Performance indicators for radiation protection management, Action 13 - Stakeholder engagement and collaboration, Abdomen, Paediatric, Management, CT, Ultrasound, Audit and standards, Diagnostic procedure, Surgery, Acute, Quality assurance
Authors:
G. Pärtan, D. Wachabauer
DOI:
10.26044/esi2019/ESI-0082
Conclusion and recommendations
Within the study period between 2009 and 2016,
the rate of preoperative CT examinations in patients undergoing appendectomy in Austria has been strongly dependent on the patient age.
Children up to 14 years had a CT examination only in 1,1 - 1,2% of cases.
This low rate of CT has remained unchanged in the study period,
probaby representing a high level of radiation protection consciousness in Austria,
and the availability of alternative imaging methods without ionizing radiation,
namely ultrasound.
In adult patients the rate of CT for diagnosis of appendicitis has moderately increased during the study period,
probably representing a general tendency for increasing use of radiologic imaging.
Factors influencing the choice and frequency of imaging methods should be evaluated more thoroughly and constantly,
in order to maintain a well balanced approach to imaging decisions in regard of radiation protection.