No Quantifiable Impact from Sacrum, Coccyx X-Rays in ED

Radiographs of the sacrum and coccyx in the emergency department have no quantifiable clinical impact, according to a study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology. 

Researchers from Emory University Midtown Hospital and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, sought to determine the yield and clinical impact of sacrum and coccyx radiographs performed in the ED.

Sacrum and coccyx X-rays performed on 687 patients over a six-year period in level-1 and level-2 trauma centers. The patients’ mean age was 48.1, 61.6% were women. The images were categorized as positive for acute fracture or dislocation, negative, or other. The researchers analyzed:

• Follow-up advanced imaging in the same ED visit

• Follow-up advanced imaging within 30 days[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_crop","fid":"48245","attributes":{"alt":"Emergency department","class":"media-image media-image-right","id":"media_crop_8688389205165","media_crop_h":"0","media_crop_image_style":"-1","media_crop_instance":"5748","media_crop_rotate":"0","media_crop_scale_h":"0","media_crop_scale_w":"0","media_crop_w":"0","media_crop_x":"0","media_crop_y":"0","style":"height: 120px; width: 180px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 1px; float: right;","title":"©Condor 36/Shutterstock.com","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]

• New analgesic prescriptions

• Clinic follow-up

• Surgical intervention within 60 days

The researchers found positive results in 58 of the 687 patients, a positivity rate of 8.4%. None of the 58 positive cases had surgical intervention.

There was no significant association between sacrum and coccyx radiograph positivity and analgesic prescription or clinical follow-up among the patients evaluated at the level-1 trauma centers. However at the level-2 trauma centers, 34 (97.1%) of 35 patients with positive sacrum and coccyx radiographs received analgesic prescriptions or clinical referrals. Negative cases were at 82.9%. Of all cases, 39 patients (5.7%) underwent advanced imaging in the same ED visit and 29 patients (4.3%) underwent imaging within 30 days.

“Sacrum and coccyx radiography results had no significant correlation with advanced imaging in the same ED visit,” the authors wrote. “There was no significant difference in 30-day advanced imaging at the level-1 trauma centers, but there was at the level-2 trauma centers.”

The researchers concluded that routine sacrum and coccyx radiography should not be part of ED practice and that patients should be treated conservatively based on clinical parameters.