Incidental CT Findings of Patients Who Admitted to ER Following a Traffic Accident

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate and analyze incidental CT findings of traffic injury patients discharged from the ER, and to determine overall notification rates. METHODS: All traffic injury-related patient records between 01.06.2013–01.03.2013 were obtained from Derince Training and Research Hospital Emergency Service using patient files and the hospital database. Brain, thorax and/or abdominal CT images of 340 patients aged between 0 to 84 years were included in the study. ER observation forms were investigated for the patients who had incidental findings on CT scanning and overall notification rates were recorded. RESULTS: Mean age of the 363 cases was 31.2 (SD 17.9, min 0, max 84) and 35.5% of patients were female (n=129) and 64.5% were male (n=234). A total of 537 CT scans were performed on 363 patients. 147, 319 and 71 CT scans were performed on the thorax, brain and abdominal, respectively. 27.3% (n=99) of scan results showed the presence of a coincidental pathology. The most common disease on scans were bone lesions (8%, n=29), followed by sinus abnormalities (7.7%, n=28). Incidental findings ratio in patients aged over 60 was 60.8%, while under 60 was 24.8%. It was found that seven patients (7.1%) were informed about the imaging results. CONCLUSION: Most of the incidental findings were found to be benign; however, 16.5% of them were considered to require in-depth investigation. Further investigations are needed to understand the clinical relevance of these findings and their effects on patients.