Addressing requests for emergency ultrasonographic examinations when implementing teleradiology services

Abstract

Purpose: To prospectively assess how to address requests for ultrasonographic examinations when setting up an on-call teleradiology service. Materials and methods: An analytical prospective study was performed from January 2012 to December 2012 inclusively. All requests received for after-hours ultrasonographic examinations during this period were analyzed. Ultrasound requests were classified as being postponable until working hours, replaceable by an alternate cross-sectional imaging modality, or urgent and needing to be performed after hours. Results: A total of 176 requests for ultrasonographic examinations were analyzed. They predominantly included requests for abdominal and pelvic ultrasonographic examinations (63%). Thirty-nine requests (22.2%) were considered as postponable, 49 (27.8%) as replaceable and 64 (36.4%) as both postponable and replaceable. Twenty-four requests (13.6%) were considered as urgent; they consisted of 10 requests for venous duplex Doppler ultrasonographic examinations of the lower limbs, eight requests for testicular ultrasonographic examinations, five for pelvic ultrasonographic examinations and one for soft-tissue ultrasonographic examination. In these urgent cases, realistic options were either to transfer the patient to another institution or to train emergency department physicians in ultrasonography for local handling. Conclusion: Although the need for addressing requests for ultrasonographic examinations should be taken into account when setting up an on-call teleradiology service, it should not impede such plans.