Current State of Abdominal Computed Tomography Performed in Emergency Department of a Tertiary University Hospital and Development of a Preliminary Interpretation Checklist

Suh, Junyoung; Song, Juhyun; Moon, Sungwoo; Cho, Hanjin; Park, Jonghak; Kim, Jooyoung; Jeon, Seoungho; Cha, Jaehyung

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 27(4); 2016 > Article

Original Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2016;27(4): 336-344.

Current State of Abdominal Computed Tomography Performed in Emergency Department of a Tertiary University Hospital and Development of a Preliminary Interpretation Checklist

Junyoung Suh¹, Juhyun Song¹, Sungwoo Moon¹, Hanjin Cho¹, Jonghak Park¹, Jooyoung Kim¹, Seoungho Jeon¹, Jaehyung Cha²

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan, Korea
²Medical Science Research Center, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan, Korea

Correspondence

Juhyun Song ,Tel: 031-412-5380, Fax: 031-412-5315, Email: songcap97@hotmail.com,

Received: April 12, 2016; Revised: April 19, 2016 Accepted: May 24, 2016. Published online: August 31, 2016.

ABSTRACT

Purpose:
Abdominal computed tomography (CT) is a widely recognized method to diagnose patients with acute abdominal pain in the emergency departments (EDs). We aimed to investigate the current state and interpretations of abdominal CT performed in the ED of a tertiary university hospital.
Method:
This was a retrospective study based on an abdominal CT database and medical records of patients over 15 years of age, who had visited our ED between January 1 and December 31, 2013. The data collected included CT types, final interpretations, characteristics of the patients, and location of pain at the time of CT.
Results:
A total of 1,978 abdominal CTs were performed among 1,923 patients during the research period. The most frequent organs involved in the major diagnosis were those in the urinary system, followed by the appendix, liver, large intestine, and gallbladder. The most frequently interpreted diagnoses in these organs were in the order of urinary stone, appendicitis, liver cirrhosis, infectious colitis, and acute cholecystitis. The most frequent location of pain was the right lower quadrant (429 cases, 21.7%), and the most frequently performed CT types were contrast-enhanced abdominal and pelvic CT (1,260 cases, 63.7%).
Conclusion:
Various interpretations were derived based on the abdominal CTs, ranging from critical to mild diseases and from common to rare diseases. Based on this study, we have developed a preliminary interpretation checklist for abdominal CTs.

Key words: Computed tomography, Emergency service, Hospital, Interpretation