Korean J Radiol.  2012 Dec;13(6):771-775. 10.3348/kjr.2012.13.6.771.

Trends of CT Use in the Pediatric Emergency Department in a Tertiary Academic Hospital of Korea during 2001-2010

• Oh HY
• Kim EY
• Kim JE
• Kim YJ
• Choi HY
• Cho J
• Yang HJ
• Ryoo E

• KMID: 1397508
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2012.13.6.771

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
We wanted to assess the trends of computed tomography (CT) examinations in a pediatric emergency department (ED).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We searched the medical database to identify the pediatric patients who had visited the ED, and the number of CTs conducted from January 2001 to December 2010. We analyzed the types of CTs, according to the anatomic region, and the patients who underwent CT examinations for multiple regions. Data were stratified, according to the patient age (< 13 years and 13 < or = ages < 18 years).
RESULTS
The number of CTs performed per 1000 patients increased by 92% during the 10-year period (per 1000 patients, increased from 50.1 CTs in 2001 to 156.5 CTs in 2006, and then decreased to 96.0 CTs in 2010). Although head CTs were performed most often (74.6% of all CTs), facial bone CTs showed the largest rate of increase (3188%) per 1000 patients, followed by cervical CTs (642%), abdominal CTs (474%), miscellaneous CTs (236%), chest CTs (89%) and head CTs (39%). The number of patients who had CT examinations for multiple regions in the same day showed a similar pattern of increase, to that of overall CT examinations. Increase of CT utilization was more pronounced in adolescents than in pediatric patients younger than 13 years (189% vs. 59%).
CONCLUSION
The utilization of CTs increases from 2001 to 2006, and has declined since 2006. The increase of CTs is more pronounced in adolescents, and facial bone CTs prevail in increased number of examination followed by cervical CTs, abdominal CTs, miscellaneous CTs, chest CTs, and head CTs.

Keyword

Computed tomography; Utilization; Pediatric; Emergency department

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data/*trends
Female
Humans
Male
Multidetector Computed Tomography
Republic of Korea
Tertiary Care Centers/statistics & numerical data/*trends
Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*trends/utilization

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Total number of CT scans performed for pediatric patients who visited emergency department for previous decade.

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  Fig. 2 Increase in rate of CT examinations by anatomic regions for previous decade.

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  Fig. 3 Number of patients who had CT examinations for single and multiple anatomic regions in same day.

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