Emergency radiology
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Emergency radiology · Apr 2012
ReviewHighlights from the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the ASER 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course.
The American Society of Emergency Radiology (ASER) 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting and Post-Graduate Course encompassed a wide range of topics: traumatic and nontraumatic emergencies, radiation dose management, technical innovations and advancements, emergency preparedness, mass casualties, military radiology and teleradiology. This article highlights the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the meeting.
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Emergency radiology · Jan 2012
ReviewImaging of acute right lower quadrant abdominal pain: differential diagnoses beyond appendicitis.
Evaluation of acute right lower quadrant pain remains a common and challenging clinical scenario for emergency medicine physicians due to frequent nonspecific signs, symptoms, and physical examination findings. Therefore, imaging has evolved to play a pivotal role in the emergency setting. While appendicitis is a common cause for acute pain, there are numerous other important differential considerations with which the radiologist must be aware. The purpose of this review is to list an anatomy-based, encompassing differential diagnosis in addition to acute appendicitis for right lower quadrant pain; demonstrate the key imaging findings of numerous differential considerations; and describe helpful imaging and clinical features useful in narrowing the differential diagnosis.
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Emergency radiology · Jan 2012
Evaluation of acute cervical spine imaging based on ACR Appropriateness Criteria®.
The objectives of this study were to determine the rate of acute blunt cervical spine injury at an academic urban level 1 trauma center and to evaluate the utilization of cervical spine imaging based on the established American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria®. We retrospectively reviewed all radiography and CT imaging of the cervical spine performed over a year period in adult patients presenting with acute blunt cervical spine trauma. Exclusion criteria were children ≤17 years, non-acute trauma of ≥72 h, and penetrating trauma. ⋯ Approximately 1.5% (19/1,245) of the patients demonstrated clinically significant acute cervical spine injury. There were 6.4% (80/1,245) patients who received both cervical spine radiographs and CT as imaging evaluation. Based on the ACR Appropriateness Criteria®, all of the cervical spine radiographs performed (433) were determined to be "inappropriate" imaging in the setting of acute cervical spine injury.