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DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2493080353
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(Radiology 2009;250:246-253.)
© RSNA, 2009

Technical Developments

Routine Use of Positive Oral Contrast Material Is Not Required for Oncology Patients Undergoing Follow-up Multidetector CT1

Sreemathi Harieaswar, MRCP, FRCR, Arumugam Rajesh, FRCR, Yvette Griffin, MRCP, FRCR, Raman Tyagi, MD, FRCR, and Bruno Morgan, PhD, MRCP, FRCR

1 From the Department of Radiology, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester LE1 5WW, England. Received February 22, 2008; revision requested April 30; revision received June 6; accepted June 27; final version accepted July 15. Address correspondence to B.M. (e-mail: bm11{at}le.ac.uk).

The purpose of this retrospective medical audit was to evaluate the effect of discontinuing routine administration of oral contrast material to oncology patients undergoing follow-up multidetector computed tomography (CT) on reader evaluation of study adequacy. Analysis of 100 patients' experience of CT shows that positive oral contrast material was their least pleasant experience (P < .0001). Abandoning the routine use of positive oral contrast material for follow-up scans in general oncology patients undergoing multidetector CT, with section reconstruction thickness of 2.5 mm, was audited for 447 patents and included 5–13-month follow-up. The patient satisfaction study and clinical audit were performed according to local institutional audit guidelines. Since this was a clinical audit project, ethical approval was not required under UK National Health Service research governance arrangements. No patient needed to be recalled, no related diagnostic error has been reported, and follow-up CT, available in 285 of 447 cases (64%), revealed no error on the audited scan. We conclude that the routine use of positive oral contrast material is unnecessary for follow-up multidetector CT for general oncology indications.

© RSNA, 2009