The American College of Radiology issued an update to its influential imaging appropriateness criteria on Tuesday, adding six new topics while modifying several others.
The revision covers clinical scenarios such as thoracic back pain (where imaging usually is not appropriate) and penetrating torso trauma (which sometimes can require X-rays or CT). Aimed at aiding physicians in ordering the correct services and limiting healthcare waste, the guidelines now cover 239 diagnostic and interventional topics and 3,900 clinical scenarios.
“Several important updates to the ACR Appropriateness Criteria in this release should help referring physicians and other providers enhance the quality of care for their patients,” Mark E. Lockhart, MD, chair of the ACR committee that oversees the criteria, said in an April 9 announcement.
Here are links to the six new topics released by the ACR this week:
1. Acute Elbow and Forearm Pain
2. Endometriosis
3. Imaging of Suspected Intracranial Hypotension
4. Penetrating Torso Trauma
5. Thoracic Back Pain
6. Tracheobronchial Disease
In addition, ACR also issued revisions across six topics such as pretreatment staging of urothelial cancer and acute onset of scrotal pain without trauma. ACR first launched its appropriateness criteria in 1993, with a panel of experts devising the recommendations. The Colegio Interamericano de Radiología also has created translations for over 60 of the topics with more on the way, ACR said. The college previously updated its appropriateness criteria in October and April of last year.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.