The Role of Abdominal Radiography in the Evaluation of the Nontrauma Emergency Patient:New Thoughts on an Old Problem

摘要

More than one-quarter of a century ago, our group challenged the indiscriminate use of ordinary abdominal radiographs, demonstrating that 53.7% of them could be eliminated without missing any clinically important findings (1). We recommended that abdominal radiography could safely be restricted to those suffering from moderate to severe abdominal tenderness and patients with clinical signs and symptoms highly suggestive of bowel obstruction, ureteral calculi, ischemia, or gallbladder disease. However, our article had little effect on ordering patterns, despite the continuing need to control overuse of imaging resources and the emergence of newer technologies that may provide more precise and reliable answers to clinical questions