Abdominal Computed Tomography in the Emergency Room: Overuse of Medical Technologies and the Depreciation of Clinical Diagnosis

ABSTRACT The number of computed tomography (CT) examinations performed in urgent care has been increasing since its introduction in the emergency room (ER). This has led to a substantial increase in hospital costs and patient’s exposure to ionizing radiation, which has led to the need for more judicious use of CT in the ER. The aim of this study is to show the difference between clinical (pre-CT), tomographic (post-CT) and definitive diagnoses in patients with abdominal CT in the ER. This is a cross-sectional study, with retrospective data collection through electronic medical records. A total of 834 patients with acute abdominal pain (AAP) lasting less than 7 days, submitted to abdominal computed tomography between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017 were selected. Clinical, tomographic and final diagnoses were recorded and submitted to a concordance analysis by calculating the Kappa coefficient, considering p