Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36307571›Full record

ArticleEmergency radiology2023

Impact of easing COVID-19 safety measures on trauma computed tomography imaging volumes.

Sriram Rao, Justin Glavis-Bloom, David Kakish, Karen Tran-Harding, Daniel S Chow, Michael Nguyentat, Eric O Yeates, Jeffry Nahmias, Roozbeh Houshyar

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Emergency radiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sriram RaoDepartment of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.
Justin Glavis-BloomDepartment of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4879-1572
David KakishDepartment of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.
Karen Tran-HardingDepartment of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5971-1083
Daniel S ChowDepartment of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2359-7394
Michael NguyentatDepartment of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7622-652X
Eric O YeatesDepartment of Surgery, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.
Jeffry NahmiasDepartment of Surgery, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.
Roozbeh HoushyarDepartment of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Orange, CA, USA. rhoushya@hs.uci.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4263-5533
University of California, Irvine · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to substantial disruptions in healthcare staffing and operations. Stay-at-home (SAH) orders and limitations in social gathering implemented in spring 2020 were followed by initial decreases in healthcare and imaging utilization. This study aims to evaluate the impact of subsequent easing of SAH on trauma volumes, demand for, and turnaround times for trauma computed tomography (CT) exams, hypothesizing that after initial decreases, trauma volumes have increased as COVID safety measures have been reduced.

methodsPatient characteristics, CT imaging volumes, and turnaround time were analyzed for all adult activated emergency department trauma patients requiring CT imaging at a single Level-I trauma center (1/2018-2/2022) located in the sixth most populous county in the USA. Based on COVID safety measures in place in the state of California, three time periods were compared: baseline (PRE, 1/1/2018-3/19/2020), COVID safety measures (COVID, 3/20/2020-1/25/2021), and POST (1/26/2021-2/28/2022).

resultsThere were 16,984 trauma patients across the study (PRE = 8289, COVID = 3139, POST = 5556). The average daily trauma patient volumes increased significantly in the POST period compared to the PRE and COVID periods (13.9 vs. 10.3 vs. 10.1, p < 0.001), with increases in both blunt (p < 0.001) and penetrating (p = 0.002) trauma. The average daily number of trauma CT examinations performed increased significantly in the POST period compared to the PRE and COVID periods (56.7 vs. 48.3 vs. 47.6, p < 0.001), with significant increases in average turnaround time (47 min vs. 31 and 37, p < 0.001).

conclusionAfter initial decreases in trauma radiology volumes following stay-at-home orders, subsequent easing of safety measures has coincided with increases in trauma imaging volumes above pre-pandemic levels and longer exam turnaround times.

Indexed as

COVID-19AdultEmergency Service, HospitalHumansRetrospective StudiesSARS-CoV-2Tomography, X-Ray ComputedTrauma CentersCoronavirusCOVID-19ERHealthcare utilizationTrauma

Identifiers

PMID36307571
PMCPMC9616698
OpenAlexW4307819574

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.