How Patients who needed CT scans on an ambulatory basis are scanned and reviewed in a major teaching hospital

Abstract

Abstract Aim This study focuses on the status of service provision for Emergency General Surgical patients requiring Ambulatory CT scans at a major teaching hospital. Method CT scans that took place between May 2023 – July 2023 where patients who received scans were reviewed and categorized between Urology and EGS. Results During the 13-week study, we were able to scan 233 patients (17.92 scans per week) in total between both specialties where 82 scans were for EGS patients (35%). All of these patients were reviewed by a member of the EGS team before they were booked for ambulatory scans at an allotted time and date where patients were scanned at an average of 2.15 days after initial review. After the scan, the patients are reviewed in the Ambulatory Clinic with their results where decisions were made. 93% of the patients were seen on the same day after the scan. Most wait was 11 days due to delay of scanning. Of all the scans 75% of the scans are for common indication for scans in an Ambulatory setting. Indication for scanNumberDiverticular20Post-operative collections14Appendicitis11Non-specific abdominal pain10Hernias8 Conclusion After symptomatic management, scanning and reviewing patients on an ambulatory pathway is effective in both receiving scans in a timely manner as well as making timely appropriate decisions regarding their cause of presentation. It also helps reducing the number of patients going into the acute team.