Guidelines for lumbar spine radiography in acute low back pain: effect of implementation in an accident and emergency department.
Guidelines for lumbar spine radiography were agreed by consultation between staff in the radiology, accident and emergency and neurosurgical departments of a large teaching hospital. Study of 322 consecutive patients over an eight month period showed that the proportion of patients referred for radiography was reduced from 48.4% to 27.2% following introduction of the guidelines (p = 0.0002). Successful use of such guidelines requires cooperation between clinical and radiological staff and frequent review of performance.
Tracey
N G
NG
Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
Martin
J B
JB
McKinstry
C S
CS
Mathew
B M
BM
D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009660:Northern Ireland; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011859:Radiography; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data