Purpose: What is the percentage of repeat examinations in the ultrasonographic section of a radiological university department?
Methods: All 4116 patients, who were first examined in the sonographic section of the Radiologic Department of the University of Cologne from 5/97 to 5/98, were asked by the medical staff, whether, how often and by whom ultrasonographic, CT or MR examinations of the same organ system had been carried out during the last 4 weeks without evidence of clinical changes. The data were documented using a structured questionnaire.
Results: Sonographic repeated examinations documented in 443 (10.8%) of the 4116 consultations. The proportion of in- to outpatients with repeat examinations was 26.0% to 74.0%. Contrarily, the repeated ultrasonographies were done by practitioners in 62.3% and by the university staff in 33.2% (radiology 48.2%). With regard to the 4116 consultations, the abdomen (81.1%) was the organ system most often examined repeatedly. Computed tomographies were already done or planned in 305 of 4116 patients (7.4%) and MR-tomographies were already done or planned in 57 patients (1.4%).
Conclusion: The rate of repeated ultrasonographic examinations in a radiological university hospital was 19.6%.