1. Reliability of injury grading systems for patients with blunt splenic trauma.
- Author
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Olthof DC, van der Vlies CH, Scheerder MJ, de Haan RJ, Beenen LF, Goslings JC, and van Delden OM
- Subjects
- Abdominal Injuries diagnostic imaging, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Humans, Injury Severity Score, Middle Aged, Predictive Value of Tests, Reproducibility of Results, Retrospective Studies, Spleen diagnostic imaging, Vascular System Injuries diagnostic imaging, Wounds, Nonpenetrating diagnostic imaging, Abdominal Injuries pathology, Angiography statistics & numerical data, Embolization, Therapeutic statistics & numerical data, Multidetector Computed Tomography, Spleen injuries, Spleen pathology, Vascular System Injuries pathology, Wounds, Nonpenetrating pathology
- Abstract
Objectives: The most widely used grading system for blunt splenic injury is the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) organ injury scale. In 2007 a new grading system was developed. This 'Baltimore CT grading system' is superior to the AAST classification system in predicting the need for angiography and embolization or surgery. The objective of this study was to assess inter- and intraobserver reliability between radiologists in classifying splenic injury according to both grading systems., Methods: CT scans of 83 patients with blunt splenic injury admitted between 1998 and 2008 to an academic Level 1 trauma centre were retrospectively reviewed. Inter and intrarater reliability were expressed in Cohen's or weighted Kappa values., Results: Overall weighted interobserver Kappa coefficients for the AAST and 'Baltimore CT grading system' were respectively substantial (kappa=0.80) and almost perfect (kappa=0.85). Average weighted intraobserver Kappa's values were in the 'almost perfect' range (AAST: kappa=0.91, 'Baltimore CT grading system': kappa=0.81)., Conclusion: The present study shows that overall the inter- and intraobserver reliability for grading splenic injury according to the AAST grading system and 'Baltimore CT grading system' are equally high. Because of the integration of vascular injury, the 'Baltimore CT grading system' supports clinical decision making. We therefore recommend use of this system in the classification of splenic injury., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2014
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