title: Trends of CT use in the pediatric emergency department in a tertiary academic hospital of Korea during 2001-2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We wanted to assess the trends of computed tomography (CT) examinations in a pediatric emergency department (ED).
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched the medical database to identify the pediatric patients who had visited the ED, and the number of CTs conducted from January 2001 to December 2010. We analyzed the types of CTs, according to the anatomic region, and the patients who underwent CT examinations for multiple regions. Data were stratified, according to the patient age (< 13 years and 13 ≤ ages < 18 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of CTs performed per 1000 patients increased by 92% during the 10-year period (per 1000 patients, increased from 50.1 CTs in 2001 to 156.5 CTs in 2006, and then decreased to 96.0 CTs in 2010). Although head CTs were performed most often (74.6% of all CTs), facial bone CTs showed the largest rate of increase (3188%) per 1000 patients, followed by cervical CTs (642%), abdominal CTs (474%), miscellaneous CTs (236%), chest CTs (89%) and head CTs (39%). The number of patients who had CT examinations for multiple regions in the same day showed a similar pattern of increase, to that of overall CT examinations. Increase of CT utilization was more pronounced in adolescents than in pediatric patients younger than 13 years (189% vs. 59%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The utilization of CTs increases from 2001 to 2006, and has declined since 2006. The increase of CTs is more pronounced in adolescents, and facial bone CTs prevail in increased number of examination followed by cervical CTs, abdominal CTs, miscellaneous CTs, chest CTs, and head CTs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Gachon University Gil Hospital, Incheon 405-760, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Yeon
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Eun Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jee-Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yoo Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hye-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jinseong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Hyuk Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Eell
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ryoo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D056910:Republic of Korea; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*
keywords: Computed tomography; Emergency department; Pediatric; Utilization