Prevalence of Positive Abdominal and Pelvic CT Findings in the Elderly

Researchers retrospectively reviewed records for all adult patients who underwent emergency abdominal and pelvic computed tomography (CT) scans for suspected nontraumatic conditions at a single tertiary hospital in Canada from 2011 to 2013. The researchers compared the rate and relevance of positive findings between 462 patients aged 65 years and older (mean age, 78) and 631 patients younger than 65 (mean age, 46). All CT scans were reviewed by one attending radiologist and one resident.

There were significantly more positive CT findings in the younger group than in the older group (61.6% vs. 55.6%). However, the proportion of findings that were clinically or surgically relevant (i.e., requiring immediate intervention) did not differ signifi…