The Place of Ultrasonography in the Evaluation of Rib Fractures

• Main Authors: Fulya Bakılan (Author), Gökhan Yüce (Author), Ahmet Çağdaş Biçen (Author), Tanju Keten (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Galenos Yayinevi, 2015-12-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.4274/tod.45477; 2147-2653
• Keywords: Rib fracture; blunt chest trauma; ultrasonography; Medicine; R; Other systems of medicine; RZ201-999
• Source: Türk Osteoporoz Dergisi, Vol 21, Iss 3, Pp 109-112 (2015)

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether ultrasonography is superior to chest x-ray in detecting rib fractures in patients with minor blunt chest trauma and chest pain. Materials and Methods: Ultrasonography findings of 32 patients with minor blunt chest trauma showing no evidence of a rib fracture on anteroposterior chest x-rays, were documented. Presence of cortical discontinuities, acoustic shadows, reverberation artifacts, and hematoma by ultrasonography was proposed as the diagnostic criteria for detecting the rib fracture. Results: Rib fracture was detected in 20 patients (62.5%) according to ultrasonography results. A mildly displaced fracture was detected in 7 patients (35%), hematoma was detected in 3 patients (15%) and multiple fractures (in 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th ribs) were detected in 1 patient (5%). Conclusion: The results of our study showed that ultrasonography is superior to chest x-ray, in detecting rib fractures.