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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Reasons For Requesting Radiographs In An Accident Department
Contributor:
de Lacey, Gerald;
Barker, Anthony;
Wignall, Brian;
Reidy, John;
Harper, John
imprint:
British Medical Association, 1979
Published in:The British Medical Journal
Language:
English
ISSN:
0007-1447
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
<p>A prospective study of 500 patients was performed to determine the reasons for requesting radiographs in an accident and emergency department. Most examinations were requested either to confirm a clinically suspected anbormality or because of difficulty in excluding a significant bone injury on clinical grounds alone. Several requests were also made to reassure the patient. Medico-legal reasons were relatively few, and those made purely because the doctor feared litigation probably accounted for only 5% of requests. Undue emphasis on the medicolegal aspects of accident and emergency radiography in the United Kingdom is unhelpful in that it directs attention away from the real reasons for x-ray referral. Although a reduction in the number of x-ray examinations is desirable on the grounds of expense and radiation exposure it is likely to be obtained only by improving experience and acumen in the clinical assessment of injuries.</p>