Computed Tomography for Abdominal Pain: Do Radiology Reports Answer the Clinical Question?

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Clinical Reporting

Background:

• Abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) is crucial for diagnosing pain causes.
• Radiology reports are key for communicating diagnostic findings to referring physicians.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if abdominopelvic CT radiology reports address the cause of pain when pain is specified in the scan indication.
• To identify factors influencing whether pain causes are addressed in CT reports.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 495 abdominopelvic CT reports with "pain" in the indication.
• Analysis of pain descriptor position, presence of oncology indications, and cause addressed in the impression.
• Linguistic analysis and statistical comparisons (Chi-square, Fisher exact, t-tests).

Main Results:

• A cause for pain was addressed in 91.7% of reports.
• Reports with both oncology and pain indications were less likely to address pain causes (p < .001).
• Impression complexity and word count were higher when pain causes were addressed.

Conclusions:

• Abdominopelvic CT reports generally address pain causes when indicated.
• Oncology patients with pain indications represent an exception, with less frequent addressing of pain causes.
• Report impression complexity is high, particularly when pain is addressed.