Dr. Ralph Wang from University of California, San Francisco, who also recently reported a plateau in CT imaging of children with emergency visits for abdominal pain, told Reuters Health by email, “Several initiatives have been implemented to decrease inappropriate advanced imaging use, including payment reform (deficit reduction act), dissemination of research findings linking radiation from CT use to cancer, educational campaigns such as Imaging Gently/Choosing Wisely, clinical decision support in electronic health records, etc. Perhaps all of these efforts have resulted in a slowdown in imaging.”
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ACEP Now: Vol 36 – No 10 – October 2017“Despite the slowdown, inappropriate use of CT and other advanced imaging is likely to be considerable,” he said. “More evidence is needed to provide rational imaging guidelines for other clinical conditions, and these guidelines should be implemented.”
“Another piece of recently passed legislation – Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) – requires that clinicians who order advanced imaging first consult clinical decision support based on evidence-based imaging guidelines prior to ordering a study,” Dr. Wang added.
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2 Responses to “Too Many CT Scans for Pediatric Nontraumatic Abdominal Pain”
January 28, 2018
Emily MFrom my experience working in the adult side of the ER, CT is often utilized because it is “quicker” since they don’t have to page in the US tech.
April 23, 2019
DanI can’t remember the last time in my low peds ER that we actually visualized an appendix.