A Clinically Optimal Protocol for the Imaging of Enteric Tubes: On the Basis of Radiologist Interpreted Diagnostic Utility and Radiation Dose Reduction.

Rationale And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a patient thickness-based protocol specifically for the confirmation of enteric tube placements in bedside abdominal radiographs. Protocol techniques were set to maintain image quality while minimizing patient dose.

Materials And Methods: A total of 226 pre-intervention radiographs were obtained to serve as a baseline cohort for comparison.

Lung Base Findings of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on Abdominal CT in Patients With Predominant Gastrointestinal Symptoms.

This series of patients presented to the emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain, without the respiratory symptoms typical of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the abdominal radiologist was the first to suggest COVID-19 infection because of findings in the lung bases on CT of the abdomen. COVID-19 infection can present primarily with abdominal symptoms, and the abdominal radiologist must suggest the diagnosis when evaluating the lung bases for typical findings.

Clinical Significance of US Artifacts.

Artifacts are frequently encountered at clinical US, and while some are unwanted, others may reveal valuable information related to the structure and composition of the underlying tissue. They are essential in making ultrasonography (US) a clinically useful imaging modality but also can lead to errors in image interpretation and can obscure diagnoses. Many of these artifacts can be understood as deviations from the assumptions made in generating the image.

Quality assurance methodology and applications to abdominal imaging PQI.

Quality assurance has increasingly become an integral part of medicine, with tandem goals of increasing patient safety and procedural quality, improving efficiency, lowering cost, and ultimately improving patient outcomes. This article reviews quality assurance methodology, ranging from the PDSA cycle to the application of lean techniques, aimed at operational efficiency, to continually evaluate and revise the health care environment. Alignment of goals for practices, hospitals, and healthcare organizations is critical, requiring clear objectives, adequate resources, and transparent reporting.

Building a Culture of Continuous Quality Improvement in an Academic Radiology Department.

As we enter a new era of health care in the United States, radiologists must be adequately prepared to prove, and continually improve, our value to our customers. This goal can be achieved in large part by providing high-quality services. Although quality efforts on the national and international levels provide a framework for improving radiologic quality, some of the greatest opportunities for quality improvement can be found at the departmental level, through the implementation of total quality management programs.

Multidetector row CT of small bowel obstruction.

State-of-the-art multidetector row CT (MDCT) technology has revolutionized abdominal imaging. The ability of CT to determine if bowel obstruction is present, to localize the obstructive site, to determine degree of obstruction, to diagnose the presence of closed-loop obstruction, and to identify ischemia or perforation of the involved bowel is well established. This article illustrates the usefulness of MDCT in the evaluation of small bowel obstruction and related conditions in adults and emphasizes the benefits of advanced CT applications.