Referral of patients with fever for ultrasound abdominal scans

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of ultrasound referrals of patients with fever and/or inflammation markers based on C-reactive protein (CRP) from the department of medicine to the department of radiology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The quality of 109 referrals was evaluated retrospectively based on sufficient anamnesis, description of objective findings, and presence of fever and/or inflammation markers and/or liver parameters. Fever was defined as a temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius. RESULTS: Ultrasound scans proved 50 positive findings and 59 were categorised normal. There was no significant difference in the referrals of registrars and other medical doctors with regard to the presence of positive scanning findings (p=0.26). No significant difference between radiologists and trained radiographers was observed with regard to the ultrasound scan result (p=0.34). In 55% of the cases the referrals contained no information on symptoms, objective findings (60%), presence of fever (26%) and CRP +/- liver parameters (36%) CONCLUSION: The quality of the referrals of patients with fever from the department of medicine to the department of radiology is not optimal. Prospective studies are needed.