{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]],"date-time":"2026-07-21T20:02:35Z","timestamp":1784664155345,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"California Digital Library (CDL)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784246400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Western Journal of Emergency Medicine"],"abstract":"<p>Introduction: While computed tomography (CT) is invaluable for detecting life-threatening injuries in the emergency department (ED), the literature shows increasing use of head CT and cervical spine CT in low-risk trauma patients without a corresponding rise in injuries identified. These low-yield exams expose patients to avoidable radiation, increase costs, and contribute to inefficiencies in already overburdened EDs. In this study we evaluated the impact of a multimodal quality improvement (QI) campaign to reduce the use of head and cervical spine CT in low-risk trauma patients. Methods: This prospective QI intervention involved two EDs within one healthcare network: an academic trauma center and a community hospital. We collected data on baseline CT use for six months, followed by a 23-month intervention period. Primary outcomes were monthly rates of low-risk trauma head and cervical spine CT per 100 ED patients; secondary outcome was the rate of all-cause CT use per 100 ED patients. We plotted rates over time using u-charts with mean-shift lines. Pre- and post-shift differences were summarized as rate ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals, compared using the Poisson test. Results: Use of head CT for low-risk trauma decreased from 5.00 to 4.01 per 100 patients at the academic site (RR = 0.80, 95% CI, 0.75-0.86, P &amp;lt; .001) and from 6.64 to 5.12 per 100 patients at the community site (RR 0.77, 95% CI, 0.73-0.82, P &amp;lt; .001). Use of cervical spine CT for low-risk trauma decreased from 3.36 to 2.83 per 100 patients at the academic site (RR = 0.84, 95% CI, 0.78-0.91, P &amp;lt; .001) and from 4.31 to 3.49 at the community site (RR = 0.81, 95% CI, 0.75-0.87, P &amp;lt; .001). All-cause CT use decreased at the academic site from 53.06 to 47.91 CT exams per 100 patients [RR = 0.90, 95% CI, 0.89-0.92, P &amp;lt; .001] but remained unchanged at the community site. Conclusion: A structured quality improvement campaign led to a significant reduction in the use of head and cervical spine CT in low-risk trauma patients. These findings provide a framework for promoting evidence-based imaging practice.<\/p>","DOI":"10.5811\/westjem.50707","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,18]],"date-time":"2026-07-18T02:25:25Z","timestamp":1784341525000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Quality Improvement Campaign Reduces Head and Cervical Spine Imaging in Low-risk Trauma Patients"],"prefix":"10.5811","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Jude C.","family":"Luke","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebecca N.","family":"Kubick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heidi J.","family":"Sucharew","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kayla","family":"Winkler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mary L.","family":"Giles","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natalie E.","family":"Kreitzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anita L.","family":"Goel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David O.","family":"Thompson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"29705","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]]},"container-title":["Western Journal of Emergency Medicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/escholarship.org\/content\/qt45t3g1mp\/qt45t3g1mp.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]],"date-time":"2026-07-21T19:05:41Z","timestamp":1784660741000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/45t3g1mp"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5811\/westjem.50707","relation":{},"ISSN":["1936-9018"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1936-9018","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]]}}}