@article{ref1,
title="Incidental findings in trauma patients: how big is the challenge?",
journal="Journal of surgical research",
year="2023",
author="Syrnioti, Georgia and Hinduja, Pranav and Radhakrishna, Aparna and Martinez, Autumn V. and Aggarwal, Alok and Gargiulo, Nicholas J. and Kothuru, Ravi K. and Eisdorfer, Jacob",
volume="295",
number="",
pages="253-260",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of incidental findings (IFs) identified during workup of trauma patients and the effectiveness with which they were documented and communicated. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of all trauma patients ≥15 y of age in 2018, who underwent at least one computed tomography scan. Patients' Electronic Medical Record was reviewed for the presence of IFs. IFs were classified in three categories: category 1, which includes highly significant findings requiring attention during hospitalization; category 2, which warrants attention in an outpatient basis; and category 3, which includes nonsignificant findings that require no follow-up. <br><br>RESULTS: 836 patients were identified, of which 582 had at least one IF. Of the patients with IFs; 14 (2.4%) were category 1, 138 (23.7%) were category 2, and 569 (97.8%) met category 3 criteria. All category 1 patients received appropriate documentation of their IFs. Of patients with category 2 findings, only 13% had documentation of the IFs. Patients with IFs had longer length of stay (P: 0.04) and lower probability of being discharged to home (P < 0.01) compared to patients with no IFs. Only 12.5% of the patients admitted to trauma surgery service received an outpatient follow-up. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: There was timely documentation and intervention for all patients with category 1 IFs. However, 87% of patients with category 2 IFs had inadequate documentation of the IF and outpatient follow-up. Outpatient follow-up of IFs poses a challenge for trauma patients partially due to their discharge disposition.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0022-4804",
doi="10.1016/j.jss.2023.10.003",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2023.10.003"
}