Extremity Fracture Diagnosis Using Bedside Ultrasound in Pediatric Trauma Patients Referring to Emergency Department; A Diagnostic Study

Background this study performed to assess the efficacy of ultrasound in screening upper and lower extremities fractures in comparison with standard x-ray in pediatric trauma patients. materials and methods this was a prospective diagnostic study conducted at the emergency department of imam khomeini complex hospital, tehran, iran. all patients with the age under 18-year-old admitted with limb trauma were first evaluated by attending emergency medicine physician using ultrasound and then underwent necessary x-rays. thereafter, the ultrasound reports were compared with x-ray reports regarding measurement of its accuracy. results forty patients with the mean age of 9.47 ± 5.26 years (minimum of 2 and a maximum of 17 years) entered the study (75% were male). the average time of performing ultrasound in pediatric population is 3.99± 0.83 minutes which is statistically significant compared to x-ray, 16.12 ± 4.15 minutes (p<0.001). the overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of ultrasound in detecting fractures in evaluated pediatrics were 100%, 100% and 100%, respectively. the results showed an almost perfect agreement between ultrasound and x ray for detecting upper and lower extremity fractures in pediatrics population (k=1.00). conclusion it is likely that ultrasound could be an accurate and time saving substitute for x-ray in screening for limb fractures in pediatric trauma patients admitted in emergency department.