Who should be performing routine abdominal ultrasound? A prospective double-blind study comparing the accuracy of...

To compare the accuracy of radiographers and radiologists in routine abdominal ultrasound.

One hundred consecutive patients attending for routine abdominal ultrasound were included. Each patient was examined by both a radiographer and radiologist. Both operators noted their findings and wrote a concluding report without conferring. Reports were compared. Where there was disagreement the patient was either re-examined by another radiologist or had further investigation.

Of 100 patients, 52 were men and 48 were women. The age range was 19-88 years (median 52 years). Thirty-seven patients had renal tract ultrasound, one had an aortic ultrasound and 62 had general upper abdominal ultrasound. In 44 cases both operators reported the examination as normal. In 49 cases both operators reported the examinations as abnormal and there was complete agreement between the operators. In seven cases there was not complete agreement between operators. Three of these disagreements were considered minor and four major. In three of the seven cases the radiographer was correct, and in four the radiologist was correct.

Experienced radiographers and radiologists are highly accurate in performing and interpreting routine abdominal sonography. Both operators missed a small minority of abnormalities. There was no statistically significant difference in the accuracy of radiographers and radiologist.