• Stephanie Studer, Nicole Maria van Veelen, Bryan Joost Marinus van de Wall, Valerie Kuner, Simone Schrading, Björn-Christian Link, Matthias Knobe, Reto Babst, and Frank Joseph Paulus Beeres.
• Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Lucerne Cantonal Hospital, Spitalstrasse, 6000, Lucerne 16, Switzerland.
• Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2022 Aug 1; 48 (4): 3149-3156.

PurposeWhile whole-body computed tomography is an established diagnostic method for the work up of polytraumatized patients, the protocols used differ between trauma centers. This study aimed to compare scan duration and estimated radiation of two protocols. Secondary aim was to assess if using the revised CT protocol reduced the number of additional images of the upper extremities.MethodsTwo groups of consecutive trauma patients, which both received a whole-body CT, were analyzed. Patients, who received a three-phased CT during which their arms needed to be repositioned from their side to above the head, were assigned to group A. Those, who received a CT with their arms placed on a pillow ventral to the abdomen throughout the entire scan were assigned to group B. Estimated radiation dose, scan duration, number of upper limb injuries and number of additional images of the upper limbs within 24 h after initial CT were assessed.ResultsGroup A consisted of 182 patients, group B of 218. The scan duration was 3 min shorter (p < 0.001) and the estimated radiation dose lower (15.0 vs 22.9 mSv, p < 0.001) in group B. There was no difference in the number of upper limb injuries detected or the number of upper limb additional images required within 24 h.ConclusionUsing a whole-body CT scan protocol in which the arms remain on a pillow ventral to the torso instead of one which requires a repositioning of the arms, both scan duration and estimated radiation dose can be reduced. Despite the arms being within the scanned area in the revised protocol, the number of additional imaging of the upper extremities could not be reduced.© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.

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