Evaluation of radiological medical practice during night duty

Purpose. To evaluate the radiological activity during night duty, in a Univ ersity Hospital. Materials and methods. During 100 days, the radiological activity has been evaluated from examinations requiring radiologist (including US and CT, spe cial X-ray examinations). The urgent nature and the agreement between the s uspected disease and the final diagnose have been compared with the level o f the clinician (medical student, resident, senior). Results. 981 radiological examinations were performed on an emergency basis . In 39%, the examination was urgent or very urgent and for 61%, little urg ent or non-urgent. The level of the clinician was correlated with the degre e of emergency evaluated by the radiologist and with the agreement between suspected disease and the final diagnose (p<0.0001). Conclusion. During night duty, the medical activity in radiology is not jus tified only by emergency, but also by the continuous hospital activities. B etter formation of the physician is required to limit the number of examina tions.