Changes in imaging patterns of geriatric trauma patients in emergency department

Abstract

Purpose: We aimed to analyze imaging tests and findings in a series of geriatric trauma patients admitted to emergency department (ED) at different time intervals. Materials and Methods: Two groups of 300 randomly selected patients over consecutive five-year periods were compared. Patients admitted in the first and second five-year periods were recorded as group I and II, respectively. A comprehensive comparison was carried out between two groups regarding the age, sex, reason for admission, comorbidities, Revised Trauma Score (RTS), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), radiological findings and number of radiological examinations, dose length product (DLP) values and duration of hospital stay. Results: The number of patients who underwent X-ray and CT examinations and total number of X-rays and CT scans in group II was higher than those in group I. CT scans were negative for a trauma-related finding in 49% of patients in group I and 55% of patients in group II. In patients with radiological evidence of trauma, no significant difference was observed between two groups regarding the major trauma related change. However, the trauma-related minor findings on CT were more common in group II than in group I. Conclusion: Despite the increasing use of imaging tests, there was no difference in imaging findings suggesting major trauma or requiring a longer inpatient stay. This may be related to the increasing use of radiological examinations over the years as a result of the orientation towards defensive medicine.

Keywords

• emergency service
• hospital
• computed tomography
• trauma
• geriatric
• defensive practice
• imaging
• acil servis
• bilgisayarlı tomografi
• travma
• geriatri
• defansif tıp