Residents managed trauma adequately using their own radiological interpretation as compared with "nighthawk"...

To determine whether senior surgical residents can independently interpret radiologic studies for the trauma patients under their care.

Five senior surgical residents (PGY-4 and -5) participated in this prospective study. The residents independently read trauma films as part of the emergency assessment, documenting their interpretations to be compared with the reports by nighthawk radiologists.

During a period of 4 months, 426 films of 124 trauma patients admitted to a Level II trauma center were read by one of the five senior surgical residents, and by nighthawk radiologists. Approximately 22% of these were penetrating injuries and the remainder blunt trauma. Residents identified 127 injuries versus 128 injuries identified by the radiologists, with 99.2% agreement. The residents missed two injuries, while the radiologists missed one.

Senior surgical residents can independently and accurately interpret the trauma radiology studies, a skill essential for time-critical decision making.