Purpose: To determine the effect on time to diagnosis of making MRI imaging for hip fractures available directly in the emergency department (ED).
Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of patients with MRI imaging of the hip for suspected occult fracture, comparing time to diagnosis and time to disposition of populations imaged in the year preceding and the year following installation of an MRI scanner in the ED.
Results: Time to diagnosis of hip fractures was 709 min before installation of a dedicated ED MRI scanner and 280 min after, a 60% reduction. Including the MRI in the diagnostic workup did not increase ED throughput time, and we were able to save 48% of the patients who had an ED-based MRI from an admission to the hospital.
Conclusion: Implementation of an MRI scanner for dedicated emergency department use enables faster hip fracture diagnosis and surgical consultation, or definitive disposition without increasing ED throughput time.
Keywords: Emergency; Hip fracture; MRI; Triage.