Accuracy of Diagnosis of Distal Radial Fractures by Ultrasound

Abstract

Background: although distal radial fracture account up to 20% of all fractures, it forms the most common fracture in upper extremities. Distal radial fracture has six types the most common one is Colle's fracture. The gold standard for diagnosis of distal radial fracture is conventional radiograph. Despite using ultrasound in tendon rupture, localizing foreign bodies, ultrasound started to be used for diagnosing bone fracture especially distal radius. Aim of the work: this study aimed to detect the accuracy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of distal radial fracture. Patients and methods: this was a selective prospective case series study in the Emergency Department, Al-Jumhoori Teaching Hospital,78 patients were included in this study, their age ranged between 6-45 years with mean age 17.1. 59 were males and 19 females. Duration of the study was one year (January2013 - January 2014). Results: by analyzing data of 78 patients for distal radial fracture ultrasound and comparing the results with the gold standard conventional radiograph we found that sensitivity of ultrasound in detecting fracture was 95.5%, specificity 100%, accuracy 96.15%, positive predictive value 100% and negative predictive value 80%. Conclusion: results of the current work demonstrated that ultrasound can be considered as a promising alternative to routine radiograph in diagnosis of the distal radial fractures and the horizon still open for further studies of use of ultrasound in diagnosis of other types of fractures.