Preoperative Computed Tomography Utilization in Patients Undergoing Balloon Sinus Dilation

What percentage of physicians obtain preoperative computed tomography (CT) imaging before balloon sinus dilation (BSD)?In this cross-sectional study of 490 otolaryngologists who performed more than 10 BSDs each in a 2-year period, nearly one-third of physicians were practice outliers, meaning that in more than 10% of BSD cases, they did not have preoperative CT imaging of the sinuses within 1 year before BSD. Additionally, a small number of physicians (8.6%) accounted for nearly half of missed CT scans.These findings suggest that a significant number of patients do not undergo timely preoperative CT imaging before BSD.

Corresponding Author: Alexander A. Romashko, MD, Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53226 (aromashko@mcw.edu).

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