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Role of sonography in the emergency room to diagnose sternal fractures
- Source :
- Journal of Clinical Ultrasound.
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2010.
-
Abstract
- Background. The diagnosis of a sternal fracture is often difficult when the fracture site shows only minimal displacement on conventional radiography. Recently, sonography (US) has been used widely in the emergency room (ER). We investigated the diagnostic performance of US in the ER for the diagnosis of sternal fractures. Method. Thirty-six consecutive patients examined for pain and tenderness in the sternum after blunt chest trauma were enrolled in the study. Antero-posterior and lateral radiographs and sonograms of the sternum were obtained within 24 hours after admission. The 2 imaging modalities were interpreted in a blinded manner and their diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were calculated. The final diagnosis was based on results from the clinical examination, radiographs, and sonograms. Result. Twenty-four of the 36 patients were diagnosed with sternal fractures. The sensitivity and specificity of the plain radiographs were 70.8% (95% CI = 56.0–85.6%) and 75.0% (95% CI = 60.9–89.1%), respectively. In contrast, sonography had a 100% sensitivity and specificity (95% CI = 90.3–100%). Conclusion. US has a higher sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing sternal fractures than conventional radiographs. US should be considered in patients with symptoms suggesting sternal fractures whose radiographs remain indeterminate. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound, 2010
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Sternum
Sternal fracture
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Radiography
Fracture site
Physical examination
Wounds, Nonpenetrating
Sensitivity and Specificity
Diagnosis, Differential
Fractures, Bone
Young Adult
Blunt
medicine
Humans
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging
In patient
Child
Aged
Ultrasonography
Observer Variation
medicine.diagnostic_test
business.industry
Ultrasound
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Female
Radiology
Emergency Service, Hospital
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 10970096 and 00912751
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Clinical Ultrasound
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....3c093d71a63bb00932f6605b503227ae