title: Current utilization and radiation dose from computed tomography in patients with trauma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify the cumulative effective dose of radiation received during hospitalization after traumatic injury and to compare the computed tomography (CT) utilization practices for two time periods in patients with trauma.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of radiologic and medical data.
  
  
  METHODS
  A level I trauma center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutively admitted adult patients with trauma with moderate to severe injuries (injury severity score >8), an intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay of one or more days, who were directly admitted and not transferred to another acute care center.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CT examination means and utilization were compared for April through August, 2003 and April to August, 2007. Cumulative effective doses were calculated for the 2007 period, and patients with a high radiation dose (>100 mSv) were identified. One hundred sixty-five adult patients with trauma were included. An increase in mean CT examinations per patient was observed in the 2007 period compared with the 2003 period, overall (4.41 vs. 3.44, p = 0.002) and among subsets of patients. The overall increase remained significant after adjustment for patient demographics (p = 0.05). The mean cumulative effective dose per patient was 11.13 mSv in 2007; 9% of patients received a dose >or=100 mSv.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with trauma are at an increased risk of adverse effects from CT studies, because they receive high doses of radiation, and the number of CT examinations that patients receive is increasing with time. We recommend that risk of radiation be prospectively monitored and estimated by hospitals through the use of CT examination count per patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma Research, Swedish Medical Center, Englewood, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Salottolo
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bar-Or
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fleishman
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Denetta Sue
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Slone
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Mains
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bar-Or
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*