CHANGES IN THE USE OF MEDICAL IMAGING MODALITIES IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS FROM 2016 TO 2022

Introduction: Due to the presence or proximity of medical imaging modalities in emergency departments, their use is becoming widespread in pediatric and adult emergency departments. Especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of computed tomography as a rapid and sensitive method for the diagnosis of pneumonia has also increased. This study aimed to analyse the change in the trends of imaging modalities in emergency departments over the last 6 years in our country. Material and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted in the emergency departments of public and university hospitals in Turkey between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2021. The numbers and percents of imaging requests (CT,MRI,radiographs,USG) were analyzed. Results: Regarding imaging per admission were considered, Plain radiograph constituted the most requested examinations compared to all applications (31%-36%). Then, the rates were followed by CT (10.84%-23.40%), and the highest CT requests were found in 2020(n=17.192.695). Overall, there was a statistically significant difference between years in terms of imaging types (X2 65.05, p