Keywords:
Emergency, Musculoskeletal spine, CT, Audit and standards, Decision analysis, Acute, Patterns of Care, Trauma
Authors:
D. Luong, C. Maiskell
DOI:
10.26044/ranzcr2022/R-0220
Purpose
Lower back pain is a very common problem with approximately 70-90% of Australians suffering from the condition at some point in their lives1. It was the 5th most common emergency department (ED) presentation in Australia in 20202. Queensland emergency departments have seen a 4-fold increase in presentations from 4410 in 20152 to 18315 in 20202. According to the NSW Emergency Care Institute, more than 85% of patients who present to ED with lower back pain will have no specific aetiology and recover symptomatically within a month with conservative management consisting of simple analgesia and physical therapy3.
The Choosing Wisely (CW) recommendations stipulate imaging is contraindicated for patients with non-specific acute lower back pain and with no indicators of serious pathology for lower back pain3.
This audit seeks to investigate the appropriateness of ED CT lumbar spine requests at SCUH.