Radiography for head trauma in children: what guidelines should we use?

Objective: To audit the appropriateness of skill radiography in children attending an accident and emergency (A&E) department with head injuries.

Methods: 569 children presenting to a large teaching hospital A&E unit were retrospectively audited. The indications for radiography according to British published guidelines and American published guidelines were compared with the actual requests for radiography.

Changing patterns in accident and emergency attenders.

Objective: To investigate demographic changes in attenders at an accident and emergency (A&E) department.

Methods: Patients attending Leeds General Infirmary A&E department in 1990 were compared with those attending in 1993 and 1994. Internal quality control suggested that 99% of patients were correctly registered for details of method of arrival, age, and departure (admission/discharge).

Rules for collection of clinical data: the eight Rs.

Many reports in medical journals give advice on statistical analysis of data collected in clinical studies. The terms used are statistical, and clinicians often ponder how their data stand up to these analyses. Eight simple, easy to remember words are suggested that will help clinicians both to interpret their own data and to assess the accuracy of presented or published data.