• Melissa K James, Sebastian D Schubl, Michael P Francois, Geoffrey K Doughlin, and Shi-Wen Lee.
• Department of Surgery, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Jamaica, NY. Electronic address: mjames3@jhmc.org.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2017 Jan 1; 35 (1): 13-19.

Study ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to determine if the introduction of a pan-scan protocol during the initial assessment for blunt trauma activations would affect missed injuries, incidental findings, treatment times, radiation exposure, and cost.MethodsA 6-month prospective study was performed on patients with blunt trauma at a level 1 trauma center. During the last 3 months of the study, a pan-scan protocol was introduced to the trauma assessment. Categorical data were analyzed by Fisher exact test and continuous data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney nonparametric test.ResultsThere were a total of 220 patients in the pre-pan-scan period and 206 patients during the pan-scan period. There was no significant difference in injury severity or mortality between the groups. Introduction of the pan-scan protocol substantially reduced the incidence of missed injuries from 3.2% to 0.5%, the length of stay in the emergency department by 68.2 minutes (95% confidence interval [CI], -134.4 to -2.1), and the mean time to the first operating room visit by 1465 minutes (95% CI, -2519 to -411). In contrast, fixed computed tomographic scan cost increased by $48.1 (95% CI, 32-64.1) per patient; however, total radiology cost per patient decreased by $50 (95% CI, -271.1 to 171.4). In addition, the rate of incidental findings increased by 14.4% and the average radiation exposure per patient was 8.2 mSv (95% CI, 5.0-11.3) greater during the pan-scan period.ConclusionAlthough there are advantages to whole-body computed tomography, elucidation of the appropriate blunt trauma patient population is warranted when implementing a pan-scan protocol.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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