Assessing the Impact of Structured Reports for Fluoroscopic Double-Contrast Barium Esophagrams

Fluoroscopic barium swallow examinations are a commonly performed radiologic study in the evaluation of dysphagia. These studies remain essential in the diagnostic work-up despite the increasing utilization of endoscopy, but current residents are often less experienced with fluoroscopy. Structured reporting has been demonstrated to improve comprehensiveness of reports in multiple settings, but has not been evaluated for barium swallow examinations. A retrospective review identified patients who underwent barium swallow examinations pre-structured reporting in 2017 and followed a multidisciplinary proposal for and adoption of an optional structured report in 2020. Reports were assessed for comprehensiveness by evaluating presence/absence each element (total of 10 elements). Differences in report elements between groups and multiple subgroups was performed utilizing a Mann-Whitney U test. χ² tests were also utilized to evaluate inclusion of each individual element of the report. A total of 487 reports from 2020 and 757 reports from 2017 were analyzed. Certain elements showed substantial differences in reporting, with greater than 90% of structured reports including them, but much lower numbers including them in non-structured reports from 2017 and 2020. Reports generated in 2020 had a statistically significant increase in report elements included when compared to 2017 (p < 0.01). This statistically significant increase was also observed in comparison of structured reports and non-structured reports from either period (p < 0.01). Adoption of structured reporting for fluoroscopic barium swallow examinations led to significant increase in report comprehensiveness and should be considered after a multidisciplinary approach to development.