Does Printed CT Films Serve A Purpose in Urological Decision Making? A Practice Wasting Taxpayers’ Money

Introduction: Abdominal computed tomography (CT) is a widespread imaging modality used in most of the surgical specialties including urology. Although console and CD based reporting has become the gold standard film printing with a high financial burden is still widely practiced. Present study analyses the current need of CT films compared to the radiologist report with a few representative frames.
Methodology: Abdominal CT images of 80 consecutive patients at a tertiary centre were analysed. The final reports issued by the radiologists and the hard film copies were assessed to find the incremental benefit of the films and their influence on decision making.
Results: Out of 80 reports 23% (n=18) were contrast studies and 20% (n=16) were for malignant conditions. A median of 4 CT films with 20 panels in each were printed. Additional axial and reconstructed cuts provided in 66%(n=53) of the population. A median of 2 (n=65) films with 4 small panels provided the information given in the report. Additional visual information was gathered only in 13% (n=11) which were useful for treatment decisions during surgical interventions such as percutaneous renal access and partial nephrectomy.
Conclusion: The practice of printing large number of films in abdominal CT reporting is obsolete in developed countries. Present study highlights the gross overutilization of films and their ill found place in decision making. Compared to console reporting the study affirms that hardly any additional information is obtained by printed films. Printed films may have a limited place in urological interventional procedures. This study concludes that a large-scale financial burden can be avoided by judicious printing of films and practising computer base reporting with a hard copy in an electronic medium.