Letter: Routine preoperative chest radiography.

Routine Admission and Preoperative Chest Radiography

Routine preoperative chest radiography in non-cardiopulmonary surgery.

Preoperative radiography was performed on 667 consecutive patients undergoing elective non-cardiopulmonary surgery in a large hospital in Wales. Of all significant findings reported 54% were due to cardiomegaly and 19% to chronic respiratory disease, and no appreciable abnormality was found in any patient under 30. Out of a subsample of 152 examined prospectively, 38% had received a chest radio...

Appropriateness of routine postoperative chest radiography after tracheotomy.

OBJECTIVE To determine the appropriateness of postoperative chest radiography after adult tracheotomy. DESIGN Retrospective case series. SETTING Tertiary care academic medical center. PATIENTS The records of 379 consecutive adult patients who underwent tracheotomy by the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Service from January 1992 to December 1996 were available for review and met inclu...

Routine chest radiography after permanent pacemaker implantation: is it necessary?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Chest radiographs (CXRs) are performed routinely after permanent pacemaker implantation to identify pacemaker lead position and exclude pneumothorax. We assessed the clinical value and need for this procedure. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of pacemaker data and CXRs following permanent pacemaker insertion between December 2002 and February 2004. MATERIALS AND METHODS Pos...

Routine chest radiography in intensive care: impact on decision-making.

OBJECTIVE This study determined the prevalence of clinical abnormalities in chest radiographs and its relationship with decision-making in intensive care. METHODS This prospective cohort study involved nonconsecutive patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit at the Hospital Universitário Professor Polydoro Ernani de São Thiago of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Imaging...