Residents managed trauma adequately using their own radiological interpretation as compared with "nighthawk" radiologists.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether senior surgical residents can independently interpret radiologic studies for the trauma patients under their care.
METHOD: Five senior surgical residents (PGY-4 and -5) participated in this prospective study. The residents independently read trauma films as part of the emergency assessment, documenting their interpretations to be compared with the reports by nighthawk radiologists.
RESULTS: During a period of 4 months, 426 films of 124 trauma patients admitted to a Level II trauma center were read by one of the five senior surgical residents, and by nighthawk radiologists. Approximately 22% of these were penetrating injuries and the remainder blunt trauma. Residents identified 127 injuries versus 128 injuries identified by the radiologists, with 99.2% agreement. The residents missed two injuries, while the radiologists missed one.
CONCLUSIONS: Senior surgical residents can independently and accurately interpret the trauma radiology studies, a skill essential for time-critical decision making.