Utilization of serum D-dimer assays prior to computed tomography pulmonary angiography scans in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism among emergency department physicians: a retrospective observational study

BackgroundA variety of evidence-based algorithms and decision rules using D-Dimer testing have been proposed as instruments to allow physicians to safely rule out a pulmonary embolism (PE) in low-risk patients.ObjectiveTo describe the prevalence of D-Dimer utilization among emergency department (ED) physicians and its impact on positive yields and utilization rates of Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA).MethodsData was collected on …