New evidence-based guidelines to help healthcare providers choose the most appropriate medical imaging exam for a patient’s clinical condition are now available via the latest version of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria.

In the latest version, the ACR updated more than 40 appropriateness criteria topics and added seven new criteria—including abdominal aortic aneurysm: interventional planning and follow-up; management of vertebral compression fractures; acute trauma to the foot; hematospermia; advanced cervical cancer; role of adjuvant therapy in the management of early stage cervical cancer and adjuvant therapy for resected squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

The ACR Appropriateness Criteria are developed to help referring physicians and other providers in making the most appropriate imaging or treatment decisions for a specific clinical condition.

“ACR Appropriateness Criteria provide education and guidance—for patients and doctors—on how best to use imaging,” said Michael Bettmann, MD, chair of the ACR Appropriateness Criteria committee. “They are an excellent resource for any healthcare provider considering ordering an imaging study. We strongly urge radiologists to encourage their referring physicians to consider use of ACR Appropriateness Criteria in their clinical decision-making,” said Bettmann.

The criteria include topics from expert panels in breast, cardiac, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, neurologic, thoracic, urologic, pediatric, vascular and women’s imaging, as well as interventional radiology and radiation oncology.

Physicians can access the criteria through major mobile platforms and Windows desktop PCs.

For more information about the ACR Appropriateness Criteria, visit www.acr.org/ac.