title: Diagnostic errors in examinations of the spine.
abstract: The most common radiological error in examinations of the spine is the failure to diagnose fractures. This is the third most frequent reason for lawsuits brought against radiologists for negligence, after the failure to diagnose breast cancer and the failure to diagnose lung cancer. The thousands of radiological reports of spinal examinations done every year affect not only patients' health, but also their permission to be off work and their compensation. For this reason, it is our responsibility to know why errors are committed and how to detect them in order to avoid their repetition. In this article, we show the spectrum of the most common errors in our experience in double reading spinal examinations, and we try to determine what causes these errors.
authors.affiliation: IberoRAD Teleradiología, Barcelona, España. Electronic address: javier.mota@iberorad.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mota Martínez
authors.affiliation: IberoRAD Teleradiología, Barcelona, España; Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Facal de Castro
authors.affiliation: Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mirón Mombiela
mesh_terms: D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
keywords: Columna vertebral; Diagnostic errors; Errores diagnósticos; Spine