WE HAVE MORE EVIDENCE THAN BEFORE; ULTRASONOGRAPHY IS A RELIABLE TOOL TO SHOW RIB FRACTURES

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess the value of ultrasonography (US) by determining the inter-observer reliability on US evaluation of suspected rib fractures in blunt chest trauma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 52 patients (32 males, 20 females) with a mean age of 48 years (18-95 years) who presented to the emergency department with blunt chest trauma and suspected rib fracture were included in the study. All patients were assessed with US by two radiologists (a senior radiologist with 20 years of US experience and a resident with one year of US experience) independently and chest x-rays were also evaluated. RESULTS: Only two rib fractures were detected on chest x-rays. 22 fractures were detected from 19 patients with US by both radiologists. One rib fracture was noted only by the senior radiologist and not by the resident. Interobserver agreement was very good (kappa: 0.917) and statistically significant (p=0.002). All fractures were located at the bony portion of the rib and no fracture was found at the costal cartilage or costochondral junction. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that US is a highly reproducible diagnostic tool for rib fractures with very low inter-observer variability.