title: The role of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of metacarpal fractures.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of ultrasonography (USG) in identifying metacarpal bone fractures in patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with hand injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who were admitted to a training and research hospital's ED during the study period with hand trauma and had suspected metacarpal fractures were included in the study. They were examined for metacarpal fracture by USG and x-ray. Hand radiographs reviewed by an emergency physician were considered to be the criterion standard diagnostic tool. Ultrasonography results were compared to x-ray results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-eight ultrasound examinations were performed on 96 adult patients who were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the patients was 30.1±11.8 years; 79.2% of the patients were male. Right hand injury was observed in 69.4% of the cases. Forty metacarpal fractures were detected in 38 patients on x-ray. We found a sensitivity of 92.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 78.5-98), a specificity of 98.28% (95% CI, 89.5-99.9), a positive predictive value of 97.37% (95% CI, 84.5-99.8), and a negative predictive value of 95% (95% CI, 85-98) for USG to detect metacarpal fractures when compared to x-ray imaging.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Under the light of these results, we suggest that USG may be an option for detecting metacarpal fractures and prevent unnecessary x-ray imaging examinations in patients presenting to the ED with hand trauma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Salih
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kocaoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Yıldırım Beyazıt University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Özhasenekler
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ferhat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: İçme
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: gulpamukcu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gül
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pamukçu Günaydın
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alp
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Şener
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Yıldırım Beyazıt University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Şervan
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Gökhan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050279:Metacarpal Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*