HHS Public Access Author manuscript Author Manuscript

J Am Coll Radiol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 September 01. Published in final edited form as: J Am Coll Radiol. 2016 September ; 13(9): 1050–1056. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2016.02.018.

Trends in the Use of Medical Imaging to Diagnose Appendicitis at an Academic Medical Center Michael D. Repplinger, MD, PhD1,2, Andrew C. Weber, BS1, Perry J. Pickhardt, MD2, Victoria Rajamanickam, MS3, James E. Svenson, MD, MS1, William J. Ehlenbach, MD, MSc4, Ryan P. Westergaard, MD, PhD4, Scott B. Reeder, MD, PhD1,2,4,5,6, and Elizabeth A. Jacobs, MD, MAPP1,4

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1Department

of Emergency Medicine, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI

2Department

of Radiology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI

3Department

of Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison,

WI 4Department

of Medicine, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI

5Department

of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI

6Department

of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI

Abstract Author Manuscript

Objective—To quantify the trends in imaging use for the diagnosis of appendicitis. Methods—Retrospective study at an academic medical center over a 22-year period. Patients were identified by ICD-9 diagnosis code for appendicitis. Medical record data extraction of these patients included imaging test used (ultrasound, CT, or MRI), gender, age, and body mass index (BMI). The proportion of patients undergoing each scan was calculated by year. Regression analysis was performed to determine whether age, gender, or BMI affected the imaging choice.

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Results—There were 2108 patients in this study, including 967 (43.5%) females and 599 (27%) children (