ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Cranial computed tomography in trauma: the accuracy of interpretation by staff in the emergency department
1 Department of Radiology, West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven, Cumbria CA28 8JG, UK
2 Department of Accident and Emergency, West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven, Cumbria CA28 8JG, UK
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr B Mucci
Consultant Radiologist, Department of Radiology, West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven, Cumbria CA28 8JG, UK; brian.mucci{at}ncumbria-acute.nhs.uk
Objectives: Cranial computed tomography (CT) is replacing skull radiography in head trauma. Rapid radiological opinions on these images may not always be available. We assessed the ability of our permanent emergency department staff to interpret the images.
Methods: A retrospective series of 100 consecutive cases was reviewed and interpreted by five permanent emergency department medical staff, and their interpretation compared with the consensus opinion of two radiologists.
Results: An overall agreement of 86.6% (95% confidence interval (CI) 83.4 to 89.9) was achieved, with a false negative rate of 4.2% (95% CI 3.9 to 4.3). No findings that would have changed the overnight management of any patient were missed.
Conclusions: Our results for CT scans are similar to studies of interpretation of other radiographic images in emergency departments. Our emergency staff could safely make the initial interpretation of cranial CT images in trauma out of hours, and formal reporting may wait until a suitably experienced radiologist is available.
Abbreviations: CT, computed tomography; ED, emergency department; NICE, National Institute of Clinical Excellence; SIGN, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network
Keywords: Computed tomography; head injury
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This article has been cited by other articles:
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Hugman, A, Boyle, A
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[Abstract] [Full Text]
eLetters:
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- Response to Mucci's study of "ED staff’s interpretation of cranial CTs in trauma"
- Andrew J Hugman, et al.
- EMJ Online, 26 Oct 2005 [Full text]
- Initial interpretation of head injury CT scans by A&E staff – the way forward?
- Nitin Mukerji
- EMJ Online, 26 Oct 2005 [Full text]
- Cranial computed tomography in trauma: The accuracy of interpretation by staff in the emergency dept
- Kilian A Hynes, et al.
- EMJ Online, 19 Oct 2005 [Full text]
- Author's reply re: Cranial computed tomography in trauma: the accuracy of interpretation by staff in
- Brian Mucci, et al.
- EMJ Online, 26 Oct 2005 [Full text]
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