SonoStudy? well, it’s an indirect sono-related study (and had to interrupt RUSH week) – JAMA article – use of CT and MRI on the rise (CTs have tripled, MRIs have quadrupled!), and thus radiation. The amount of high and very high dose radiation doubled in the last 15 years!! One of the authors stated: “scan rates in the HMOs in the study were a bit lower than in traditional fee-for-service systems, but the growth rates were the same” The reason they suggest: Expanding indications, patient and physician demand, medical uncertainty, and defensive medicine. ok, two words: cancer risk. Plus, in the new era of health care cost control, its time we all start considering the different options: ultrasound (oh yeah!), 1 day rechecks, observation period/stay, or just discharge them with great return precautions if they are low risk/suspicion. This is just insane. view the article:
To see what other people are saying about it: see the links below (got them from ACEP’s newsletter). American College of Radiology is calling for a stop in people getting CT for the uncomplicated headaches out there. The chairman of ACR advises clinicians to prescribe advanced imaging for all cases only to those with a clear medical need. Earlier this year, “a group of nine medical specialty boards recommended that doctors perform 45 common tests and procedures less often, with imaging prominent among them. ABC news gave a shout out to ultrasound saying it does not cause radiation exposure and the use of that has also increased with better technology (booya!).
LA Times article, NY Times article, Huffington Post article, Bloomberg businessweek, WebMD, ABC News
SonoSpot: Topics in Bedside Ultrasound 