Role of Bedside Sonography in Detecting Rib Fractures and Related Injuries

Aim: About 40% of patients with trauma, experience chest related injuries. Rib fracture remains the most frequent finding in chest trauma. Some literatures have suggested chest wall ultrasonography as a potential replacement for chest X-ray (CXR) in detecting rib fractures. The aim of this study is to assess sensitivity and specificity of bedside ultrasonography in detecting rib fractures and related injuries. Materials and Methods: Patients between April 2012 and April 2014 were enrolled in our prospective cross-sectional study. Then emergency medicine specialists performed a bedside ultrasonography to detect any probable fracture and suspected injuries. We took CXRs and an expert radiologist looked for fracture and related injuries. A chest computerized tomography scan was taken and compared with findings of CXR and ultrasonography. Results: Out of 360 patients, 238 met our inclusion criteria and enrolled in the study; where 222 (93.3%) were male and 16 (6.7%) were female with the average age of 33.78±11.62 (± standard deviation). The sensitivity and specificity of two modalities in detecting fracture, pneumothorax, hemothorax and contusion were analyzed. Conclusion: Our study showed that bedside ultrasonography could substitute CXR in detecting not only rib fractures but also related comorbidities especially in minor trauma.