Expectations of Orthopaedic Surgeons to Support Clinical Decision-making from a Radiologist’s Report: A Scoping Review

Background: Timely, accurate diagnosis can enable early inception of treatment, and thereby, potentially improve the overall outcome in patients with orthopaedic pathologies. To achieve this, mutual communication and direct consultations between radiologists and orthopaedist are essential. The current scoping review comprehensively assesses the expectations of an orthopaedic surgeon about radiologists and their interpretations of different imaging studies. Methods: A comprehensive search of the literature was performed on three different databases (Google search, PubMed, and Embase) on 19 June 2025, using specific keywords. The manuscripts, which pertained to the topic of interest, were considered. Results: An effective communication strategy between the radiologist and orthopaedic surgeon is critical in order to optimise patient care. The completeness and clarity of information provided by a clinician to the radiologist are essential to ensure appropriate choice of imaging sequences by the radiologists and excellent reporting. The radiologists need to develop specific knowledge and understanding of different orthopaedic pathologies (orthopaedic trauma, sports injuries or ligament/ tendon tears, infections or tumours, spinal pathologies, paediatric orthopaedic scenarios and postoperative complications) in order to provide management-driven reports, which may be of greatest interest to the treating surgeon. Conclusions: The radiologists must be appropriately educated by the clinician regarding the specific reasons underlying the diagnostic demands. Mutual consideration of the patients’ functional status and direct communications between orthopaedic surgeons and radiologists (in the appropriate situations) can substantially improve the treatment strategy and ameliorate the overall outcome in a majority of patients.