A study of the utilisation of skull radiography in 9 accident-and-emergency units in the U.K. A national study by the Royal College of Radiologists.
Over a period of ten weeks, nine accident-and-emergency units in England, Wales, and Scotland took part in an investigation into the use of skull radiography in the management of patients with head injury. 118 patients (2.0%) with linear fracture and 4 (0.07%) with depressed fracture were recorded in 5850 patients radiographed. Although only 1018 (17.4%) of these patients with head injury had significant additional injuries or pathology, they contributed just under half of the skull fractures detected. 90% of all requests for skull radiography were made by recently qualified doctors who, before radiography, classified 25.9% of their referrals as "fracture definitely absent". They were 99% accurate in this prediction. Traumatic intracranial haematoma and intracranial aerocele, conditions which the discovery of a skull fracture can help to anticipate, were recorded in 12.0 and 1.7 per 10,000 patients radiographed respectively.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D003657:Decision Making; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography / Q000191:economics; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006113:United Kingdom; D014600:Utilization Review