Timothy N Ghattas, Bradley R Dart, Anthony G A Pollock, Steven Hinkin, Anh Pham, Teresa L Jones
BACKGROUND: It is a common practice among orthopaedic surgeons to make radiographs at the first outpatient postoperative visit after surgical repair of acute fractures. There is not much literature that investigates the benefits and necessity of such a practice. We hypothesized that the practice of routine postoperative radiographs is unnecessary and increases cost to the patients and the health-care system, increases radiation exposure, and provides no change in patient management. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients sustaining acute fractures requiring operative fixation was done with the goal of determining how often a radiograph made at the first postoperative visit in the surgeon's office resulted in a change in patient management...
May 1, 2013: Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American Volume