EVALUATION OF X-RAY CHEST AS A PRE-OPERATIVE SCREENING TEST IN ENT SURGERY

Mujahid Raza; Altaf Hussain; Saleh Khurshied; Nawal Khurshid; Muhammad Azeem Khizer; Ghazal Iftakhar

doi:10.46903/gjms/21.04.1370

EVALUATION OF X-RAY CHEST AS A PRE-OPERATIVE SCREENING TEST IN ENT SURGERY

Mujahid Raza, Altaf Hussain, Saleh Khurshied, Nawal Khurshid, Muhammad Azeem Khizer, Ghazal Iftakhar

Abstract

Background: Chest radiography is not routinely recommended before certain elective surgeries, considering it as unnecessary investigation. The objective of this study was to evaluate chest radiography as a pre-operative screening test for elective ENT surgeries and to highlight importance of its utility in routine.

Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the Departments of Radiology and ENT Head and Neck Surgery, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan from September 2021 to March 2023. 2826 patients, undergoing elective non-cancerous ENT surgery, and their CXR were evaluated preoperatively. Patients with ASA 1 and 2 and aged between 10-60 years were included. CXR were evaluated by radiologist and findings were divided into normal and abnormal with abnormalities further classified into significant and non-significant with respect to organ system.

Results: The mean age of participants was 28±9.61 years, with a preponderance of the male gender (60.5%). Of total, 2697 (95.7%), CXRs had no abnormality, while 122 (4.3%) CXRs had abnormalities. Out of 122 total abnormalities, only 25 (20.5%) were significant, while rest 97 (79.5%) were non-significant.

Conclusion: Chest x-rays are not regularly required in pre-operative assessment of clinically well patients. Almost all of the patients in our study had no abnormality and those few who had abnormality was incidental and mostly non-significant.

Keywords

X-ray; Radiation; Surgery; Otolaryngology.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.46903/gjms/21.04.1370