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Whole body CT in the setting of trauma has been shown to improve patient outcomes and decrease mortality in the emergency department (ED). Our institutional WBCT protocol allows for easy inclusion of the lower extremities, circumventing the need for diagnostic radiographs of the lower extremities. We hypothesized that this WBCT protocol would decrease time in the ED, reduce time to ED discharge, and decrease the number of lower extremity radiographs obtained in this patient population.To assess patient throughput in the ED by determining total time in the ED, number of lower extremity radiographs, cost of radiographs, and total cost of imaging before and after the implementation of a WBCT protocol for trauma.The trauma registry from an urban level 1 trauma center was searched for blunt trauma patients 6 months before and 6 months after the implementation of a WBCT protocol for trauma. Time between admission and discharge from the ED, total number of radiographs, total radiographs cost, total cost of ED imaging, and radiation dose estimations before and after WBCT implementation were calculated.There was a statistically significant decrease in time in the ED (76 min, p = 0.033) and number of lower extremity radiographs (decreased by 2 per patient, p 0.01) following the implementation of the WBCT for trauma protocol. The cost of radiographs was decreased by 28.5% (p = 0.013) but the total cost of ED imaging was increased by approximately 4 × (p 0.0001). Calculated effective radiation dose to the lower extremities increased by a factor of 1.9 × after implementation of WBCT for trauma.Implementation of a WBCT protocol for trauma resulted in statistically significant decreased time in the ED and decreased the number of radiographs at the expense of increased imaging costs and radiation exposure.

The aims of this study are to determine the incidence of lower extremity fractures and/or vascular injuries in the setting of whole body computed tomography (WBCT) for trauma and to determine lower extremity injury outcomes in this patient population.This is a retrospective observational study performed at a large urban Level 1 trauma center. Our institutional trauma registry was queried for patients who were evaluated with WBCT and lower extremity CT angiography (CTA) as a part of their initial imaging evaluation over a 43-month period. Patients with lower extremity fractures and/or vascular injuries were identified. Those patients with both lower extremity vascular injury and fracture were then analyzed to determine the physical relationship of the fracture to the vascular injury. Physical exam findings were extracted from the medical record. Interventions and long-term outcomes were determined from the medical record.A total of 370 patients met the inclusion criteria, with 98% experiencing blunt trauma. Of these, 290 (78.4%) were positive for lower extremity injury, including 266 (71.9%) with isolated fractures, 2 (0.6%) with isolated vascular injury, and 22 (5.9%) with vascular injury associated with long bone fracture. Of the 22 patients with combined fracture and vascular injury, 8 received vascular intervention and 10 had long-term complications as a result of their injuries. Physical exam findings were insufficient to diagnose 57% of the vascular injuries.The inclusion of lower extremity CTA as part of a WBCT imaging exam for trauma allows for the identification of vascular injuries that otherwise may have gone undetected or resulted in delayed diagnosis. Clinically occult lower extremity vascular injuries may be associated with poor outcomes.