title: The efficiency of bedside ultrasonography in patients with wrist injury and comparison with other radiological imaging methods: A prospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to determine the efficiency of ultrasound (US) scanning in patients with wrist trauma admitted to the emergency department and to compare US diagnostic usage with other radiological imaging methods.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who presented to the emergency department with wrist injury and who met the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria were eligible. For all patients, US evaluation of the whole wrist was performed by an emergency physician before other radiological imaging methods (radiographies, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging). All of the patients included in the study underwent US, radiography, CT, and MR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study, 122 patients were admitted with a wrist injury. After filtering for the exclusion criteria, 80 patients were included in the study. The sensitivity of US scanning in detecting fractures was 95.31% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 87.1-98.39), the specificity was 93.75% (95% CI: 71.67-98.89), and the positive predictive value was 98.39% (95% CI: 91.72-99.85), and the negative predictive value was 83.33% (95% CI: 72.98-90.41). The sensitivity of US scanning in detecting tendon and ligamentous structural injury was 66.67% (95% CI: 41.71-84.82), the specificity was 100% (95% CI: 94.42-100), the positive predictive value was 100% (95% CI: 94.29-99.89), and the negative predictive was 92.86% (95% CI: 84.25-97.14).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  US scanning is an effective method that can be applied in the emergency department to adult patients to diagnose distal forearm and carpal bones fractures. In soft tissue injuries, US and MR examinations produce similar results.
authors.affiliation: Gumushane State Hospital, Department of Emergency, Gumushane, Turkey. Electronic address: aburakoguz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ahmet Burak
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Oguz
authors.affiliation: Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Onur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.affiliation: Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muge Gunalp
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Eneyli
authors.affiliation: Sivas Numune Hospital, Department of Emergency, Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Behnan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gulunay
authors.affiliation: Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Merve
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eksioglu
authors.affiliation: Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gurler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014421:Turkey; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014954:Wrist Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Imaging methods; Radiology; Trauma; Ultrasonography; Wrist injury