Retrospective audit of CT scans performed at a hospital for surgical patients

INTRODUCTION: Easy accessibility, high sensitivity and specificity of CT scans have markedly increased its usage in developed countries. Its importance is undeniably considered integral for the diagnosis of various pathologies. However, sometimes this costly resource is wasted when used unnecessary. This paper is an audit on CT scans performed to look for surgical pathologies between July 2018 and April 2019 recapitulating the numbers of CT scan's abnormal and normal findings. METHODOLOGY: Anonymized record of all the patients seen by the surgical team in the emergency department was reviewed. Retrospective data of every patient who had the CT scan was taken through Mckesson Radiology software of an Irish Hospital. Analysis was done using SPSS. Findings of 102 CT scans was broken down in to three different groups depending at which departmental level CT was performed, namely:Emergency department, Inpatient and Outpatient. RESULTS: 102 CT Scans were performed of which 51 (50%) patients out of all the three groups had unremarkable. CONCLUSIONS: Adequate history, proper clinical examination and strong clinical knowledge may bring down the number of unnecessary CT scans.