- Title
- Compliance with thyroid nodule ultrasound reporting guidelines in an Australian area health service
- Creator
- Roberts, Samuel T.; Darlow, Josh; Williamsz, Garvin; Cope, Daron
- Relation
- Australian Journal of Otolaryngology Vol. 3, Issue August 2020, no. 29
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/ajo.2019.12.03
- Publisher
- AME Publishing Company
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- Background: Thyroid nodules are a common clinical finding often detected in asymptomatic patients. The dilemma regarding the need for biopsy can be directed by ultrasound and guidelines have been developed to aid in the decision including the British Thyroid Association (BTA) Guidelines, the American Thyroid Association (ATA) Guidelines and the American College of Radiology “Thyroid Reporting and Data System” (TI-RADS). We sought to assess compliance with these guidelines in a modern Australian context. Methods: A retrospective case series was conducted in the Hunter New England area health service. Patients undergoing a neck ultrasound over a 7-year period were eligible for review. Primary outcome was the proportion of reports mentioning the ultrasound criteria described in the various guidelines. Secondary outcomes were results of any subsequent histopathology or surgery. Results: A total of 11,000 neck ultrasounds were reported in our time period, and of these 300 were selected for analysis. 71 of these reports commented on a nodule. Size was mentioned in 97.2%. Reporting on individual features was poor with none mentioned in more than 51% of reports. “Spongiform appearance”, “Eggshell calcification”, “Extrathyroid extension”, “Extrusive Component”, and reference to any nodule classification as proposed by a variety of International Guidelines, were not mentioned in a single report Conclusions: Uptake of the various guidelines available has been poor in our thyroid ultrasound reports. Increased utilisation of these International guidelines would aid in clinical decision making for primary practitioners and specialists, in turn reducing risk to patients and costs to the health system.
- Subject
- ultrasound; guidelines; thyroid nodule; imaging; thyroid gland; Australia
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1475964
- Identifier
- uon:49705
- Identifier
- ISSN:2616-2792
- Language
- eng
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