A silver bullet? The role of radiology information system data mining in defining gunshot injury trends at a South African tertiary-level hospital
Date
2021-03
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Abstract
Background: South Africa (SA) has no national injury surveillance system, and hence, nonfatal gunshot injuries are not routinely recorded. Most firearm-related injuries require multidetector computer tomography (MDCT) assessment at a tertiary-level facility. MDCT scanning for victims with gunshot injuries thus provide an indication of the societal burden of firearm trauma. The potential of the modern radiology information system (RIS) to serve as a robust research tool in such settings is not fully appreciated. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of institutional RIS data in defining MDCT scanning trends for gunshot victims presenting to a tertiary-level SA hospital. Method: A single-institution, retrospective, comparative study was conducted at the Tygerberg
Hospital (TBH) Trauma Unit for the years 2013 and 2018. Using data-mining software, customised RIS searches for information on all gunshot-related emergency computed tomography scans in the respective years were performed. Demographic, temporal, anatomical and scan-protocol trends were analysed by cross tabulation, Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: Gunshot-related emergency MDCT scans increased by 62% (546 vs. 887) from 2013 to
2018. Lower-limb CT angiography was the commonest investigation in both periods. A higher proportion of victims in 2018 sustained thoracic injuries (12.5% vs. 19.8%; p < 0.01) and required imaging of more than two body parts (13.1% vs. 19.2%; p < 0.01). Conclusion: By using RIS data to demonstrate the increasing gunshot-related MDCT workload in the review period, as well as a pattern of more complex and potentially life-threatening injury, this study highlights the burden of firearm trauma in the society and the potential role of the modern RIS as a robust research tool.
Description
CITATION: Creamer, D. K. et al. 2021. A silver bullet? The role of radiology information system data mining in defining gunshot injury trends at a South African tertiary-level hospital. South African Journal of Radiology, 25(1):a2018, doi:10.4102/sajr.v25i1.2018.
The original publication is available at https://sajr.org.za
The original publication is available at https://sajr.org.za
Keywords
Radiology -- South Africa, Gunshot wounds -- Imaging -- South Africa, Gunshot wounds -- Diagnosis -- South Africa
Citation
Creamer, D. K. et al. 2021. A silver bullet? The role of radiology information system data mining in defining gunshot injury trends at a South African tertiary-level hospital. South African Journal of Radiology, 25(1):a2018, doi:10.4102/sajr.v25i1.2018.