Adequacy of paediatric renal tract ultrasound requests and reports in a general radiology department

Abstract

According to current guidelines, US is the most important modality for imaging urinary tract infections (UTI) in children. (1) To assess the adequacy of paediatric renal US requests and reports in a general radiology department, and correlate the request adequacy and the performing radiologist's experience with report adequacy. (2) To determine the yield of abnormal findings. Retrospective review of renal US requests. The information was scored: requests 0-3 (3 as highest adequacy) and reports 0-21 (21 as highest adequacy). Correlation tests used included Spearman's correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test, Chi-square test of independence and Fisher exact test. Mean report adequacy score was 6.67/21. Trainees did 87% of all scans and performed better (score 6.76) than the staff radiologists (score 6.08). Hydronephrosis was the most common abnormality. There was no correlation between request or reporter rank and reporting adequacy. Renal US requests and reports are inadequate. To improve reporting standards for trainees and specialists, a renal ultrasound reporting template was designed for use.