To think the radiologist shouldn’t have said anything?

[ThemysteriousH]

So have a wide variety of symptoms, different conditions but new ones that need investigating.

Had an abdominal/internal ultrasound to check for cysts. Chatted generally throughout and how long waiting times are for gynae (I’m under them for endometriosis and not had an appointment for a few years, I understand Covid’s impact etc).

As I was getting ready to leave asked when would I get results and she said,
“You’re GP will get them within days, you’ve no ovarian cysts, your scans abnormal, but at least you’ll get that gynae appt quicker now!”

Not coming here looking for a diagnosis but AIBU in thinking she should’ve just said “you’re Gp will do receive the results in such and such time” rather than above?

Now I’m unnecessarily worrying about it. Doesn’t help my CA-125 blood test was abnormal. (Work in ED which doesn’t see gynae/peads etc and not asking a colleague).

She could have said it better, but I think she just meant to let you know that you would get the gynae referral based on her observations of the ultrasound (which I assume Gaps would follow in most cases). She probably didn't mean to diagnose or say anything more than what she saw on the scan.

Not sure if it's right or wrong. I've had that experience with baby growth scans where I would be told immediately if everything was normal or not by the person doing the scan, to let me know if I would have a follow-up with a consultant or not

GPs, not Gaps!

Most people would welcome the information.

@Emeraldsrock Sonographers and radiologists do the same thing. They report on what they see and suggest follow ups. Sonographers tend to do gynae scans though. Most radiologists don’t

None of that is correct.

A radiologist is a qualified doctor, who has completed specialty training in radiology. They ‘read’ x-rays/scans and use these in combination with clinical notes to write reports, and in some cases provide advice to the referring service.
A sonographer is not a doctor, not a specialist, but someone who has completed training in the act of sonography. Similar with radiographers. Not all radiographers are sonographers but these days most would have also done that training.

In short, be it radiographer/sonographer, they should not be providing any clinical feedback whatsoever to patients. That’s completely inappropriate. It should be limited to ‘a report will be sent to the referrer, that should be received in x days’. Otherwise they do risk saying ‘all good’ when something may subsequently be picked up via radiologist review. In regards to fetal monitoring via u/s there is no issue at all saying a patient would need to come back as positioning meant that x and y could not be observed today. Any diagnosis though is not within their remit, it is the remit of a clinician so they either need to bring one into the room and they look, confirm and discuss with the patient. If appropriate clinicians are not available at that site, they need to refer on to a specialised fetal monitoring unit where these clinicians will be present and will be the ones to make diagnosis, write associated reports, have relevant discussions with patient and associated obstetric services etc.

@HoppingPavlova @negomi90 aren’t there radiographers/sonographers who have done extra training to be able to report on X-rays and ultrasounds?

YANBU. SayIng that was bound to leave you worried. I agree they should have just said when your report would be back and that you’d get an appointment soon. Unless they have the time to talk things through it’s unfair to leave you to speculate on what they might have found and what that might mean. I hope you soon get the answers you need OP

Yes, there are Advanced Clinical Practioners who are Reporting Radiographers with additional post graduate qualifications.

DD is a senior Radiographer, that’s one of the next career progression opportunities available to her.

There are no radiographers or sonographers who have done an additional four or five years of medical school to become doctors followed by years of specific training in radiology, to get a double degree in effect.

Any that did follow that extremely arduous route are going to call themselves radiologists!

You know there’s something wrong that’s why your having a scan in the first place

They probably shouldn't have said anything, going back to the op, and left it to your GP to speak to you. I always want to get the news straight away but if it was just from the sonographer - probably not!
Hope you hear soon and it's nothing too worrying

She shouldn't have told you that your scan is abnormal as she's not qualified to discuss the implications of that with you.

I would complain. Hope you don't have too long a wait to find out more.

I’m confused
a) Endo doesn’t show up on a scan which is why it’s hard to diagnose
b) You don’t have to be a doctor to be a radiographer - it’s a three year degree to qualify as either a diagnostic or therapeutic radiographer.

Well I’ve just googled it (should have done that first) a radiologist is a doctor so is fine to interpret. Radiographer isn’t so shouldn’t.

Sonographers do report their own scans. That is their speciality.
Radiologists also report their own ultrasound scans but have many more responsibilities as a Dr.
Don't know if you had a radiologist or a sonographer doing your scan OP. They are "allowed" to tell you the results and I'm sure they would have clarified if you asked. Hope all goes well.

And yes there are reporting radiographers that complete another course on top of degree to be able to report some plain film xrays.

I'm on the fence here. I was recently told by the lady who scanned and x-rayed my breast lump that she was 99% certain I had cancer after a consultant had just told me it was a cyst. She also took the biopsies, so I'm not sure what her job is exactly. It seemed entirely normal and expected for her to do these things. I had always assumed that you got sat down in a room by a doctor after waiting for results and that a cancer diagnosis was a shock, but it didn't happen like that.

But I don't think telling you it was abnormal with no other information is very helpful. It leaves too much unknown for your imagination to start running wild. Did you ask what was abnormal about it?

I think maybe the problem was with the word "abnormal". Which sounds scary and has you thinking a while host of things.
I had a full abdo scan and the person doing it talked me through it as she did it. I don't know what her qualifications were. When we got to my gallbladder she said "there's sludge in here and a couple of stones hiding inside the sludge."

I think radiologists are in an impossible position TBH. Bad news travels fast in hospitals and very bad news travels very quickly. Last time one of my patients had an abnormal scan they had it on the Thursday, I got a call on the Friday and I saw them on the Monday.

Which was as fast as was feasible, but they already knew it was abnormal , the radiologist had something similar. I don't know what they are supposed to say really.

It was t really information though was it. No I would not welcome being told something was abnormal without further discussion.

Well surely you asked in what way it was abnormal?

Yes and no, diagnosis is an iterative process, most of the time there is no one test which gives you all the answers (if it does then the news is either very good eg: everything is normal or very, very bad) most of the time it's somewhere between. It is quite normal for people to be sent off for more tests, specialist opinions etc on their journey. This usually takes days to weeks, waiting months and months is obviously unacceptable, but a few days is pretty much inevitable unless your GP's surgery is located in a teaching hospital or you go private.

She shouldn’t have said anything about the scan and I think her comment about getting a fast appointment was flippant.

I have abdominal and pelvic mri’s yearly - they always just ask if I’ve my appointment for results booked but never comment on the results.

Are you sure she said abnormal and not normal - I can see someone reassuring a patient by telling them all is normal.

If her only job was to scan for ovarian cysts, and she found none, wouldn't it make more sense that she said 'your scans are normal' (ie. no cysts) and you misheard?

There is also the concept of a "warning shot", this may often be delivered by someone other than the treating clinician, often other HCP such as specialist nurses, no reason it could be a radiographer saying something like " I need to get someone to take another look at this". Ultimately we are human and very few of us could keep a deadpan face in the face of an image which is obviously worrying and/ or puzzling. Do you have an appointment now OP ?