Diagnostic Radiology in Emergency Medicine

There is no area of medicine where timely and accurate interpretation of diagnostic imaging studies affects patient management as much as in the Emergency Department. Thirty percent of imaging studies are requested by Emergency Departments, and Emergency Medicine Physicians often interpret their own films. Diagnostic Radiology in Emergency Medicine is explicitly written "to address the mutual vision of Emergency Medicine Physicians and Radiologists." The book is written by authors from both specialties. Unlike most emergency medicine texts, technical aspects of imaging studies are discussed , and emphasis is placed on orderly and logical interpretation of studies. Unlike most radiology texts, more than passing attention is paid to the place of imaging in the overall diagnosis and management of the patient and to what happens to the patient before and after the films are taken. The book begins with a short piece on the place of diagnostic imaging in Emergency Medicine and proceeds to a section devoted to trauma (organized by anatomic region) and, finally, to a section entitled, "Presenting Complaints" organized either according to symptom (e.g., back pain) or clinical problem (e.g., syncope or gastrointestinal bleeding). There is a separate chapter devoted to AIDS. The trauma section is well-organized. Each major clinical entity is discussed with a section on clinical presentation and exam findings. Attention is given to which tests to order and what they show. A short piece on treatment and disposition follows. While the discussion of clinical findings and treatment are unique for a radiology text and would be very worthwhile to an Emergency Medicine Radiologist in understanding why clinicians request certain tests at specific stages in their workups of various problems, this book is certainly too sketchy to be relied upon as a primary emergency medicine text. In order to keep the book to a manageable length, only the highlights of certain areas are included. For example, the section on musculoskeletal trauma is a fast-paced tour of the most common fractures and leaves one rather breathless at the end. On the other hand, the chapter on cervical spine trauma is succinct, yet complete, and provides an excellent and organized approach to this important area which can be used effectively at the bedside or viewbox. Taken together, the chapters on shortness of breath, chest pain, and aspiration provide a good overview of basic chest x-ray anatomy, interpretation, and differential diagnosis , with appropriate emphasis on entities commonly encountered …