A cost analysis of radiologic imaging in pediatric trauma patients.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to examine the cost of radiologic imaging in pediatric trauma patients admitted to the pediatric emergency department. METHODS All patients were retrospectively evaluated according to age, gender, details of injury, radiological investigations ordered and their results, cost of radiologic imaging, length of stay, outcome of the injury, and hospitalization rates. RESULTS The cost of radiologic imaging was retrospectively analyzed in 1231 trauma patients aged between one month and 15 years (mean 5.91 +/- 3.82 years). For the 996 patients who had radiological imaging, 3382 images were taken in total. Of these, only 300 (8.8%) were abnormal. The mean (and SD) total cost of radiologic imaging was US$ 40.42 ($34.38) (range $4.67 to $139.26). Total cost correlated inversely with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) (r = -0.37, p < 0.001), directly with Injury Severity Score (ISS) (r = -0.27, p < 0.001) and was not correlated with the Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) (r = -0.16, p > 0.05). The mean (and SD) duration of hospital stays was 8.54 (10.91) hours. CONCLUSION Advanced radiological images may help in early diagnosis of trauma cases. However, periodic education programs to prevent unnecessary radiological imaging in emergency departments are also necessary to decrease the cost of these imaging modalities.