• Emergency radiology · Oct 2021

    Review

    Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on radiology department emergency ultrasound utilization.

    • Mark D Messina, Marjorie W Stein, Ian J Armstrong, and Ellen L Wolf.
    • Department of Radiology, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 111 E 210th Street, Bronx, NY, 10467, USA. MaMessina@montefiore.org.
    • Emerg Radiol. 2021 Oct 1; 28 (5): 869-875.

    PurposeTo analyze the change in utilization of healthcare resources through a review of ultrasound examinations performed in the emergency department of an urban healthcare system in NYC during the time of peak COVID-19 outbreak.MethodsThis is a retrospective review analyzing ED ultrasound exams performed by the radiology department of an urban healthcare system during the 8-week time period of the peak COVID-19 outbreak in NYC, compared to a time-matched period one year prior. Data regarding the examination type and indication were obtained in addition to patient demographics and indicators of outcomes including admission, length of stay, and mortality.ResultsThere was a 58% decrease in ED ultrasounds performed by the radiology department during the COVID-19 time period. Exams performed during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period were more likely to be performed on men (28.3 vs 18.0%, p < 0.01), older patients (36 vs. 35 years, p = 0.02), and patients subsequently admitted (17.8 vs. 13.4%, p = 0.03). There was also a difference in the distribution of exam type (p = 0.01). There was no difference in death, rate of surgery/intervention performed, or distribution of clinical indication. When correcting for gender, there was only an increase in studies leading to hospital admission in the female-only group (14.9 vs. 10.7%, p = 0.05).ConclusionCOVID-19 had a drastic impact on the utilization of emergency department ultrasounds performed by the radiology department, with a decrease in total exams performed and changes in patient demographics, including a higher proportion of male patients and increases in some markers of disease severity, including rate of hospital admission.© 2021. American Society of Emergency Radiology.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…