Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography and radiography in children with acute chest trauma / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasonography and radiography in detection of acute traumatic intrathoracic injuries in children.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed in 46 cases of children with chest trauma in Shenzhen Children′s Hospital from January 2017 to January 2021. The diagnostic efficiency of lung ultrasound and radiography in children with acute traumatic hemopneumothorax and lung contusion were compared. Computed tomography scan was used as gold standard.Results:The sensitivity and specificity of lung ultrasound were 0.79 and 0.98 for pneumothorax, 0.86 and 0.75 for hemothorax, 0.86 and 0.80 for pulmonary contusion, respectively. Area under the ROC curve of ultrasonography in detection of pneumothorax, hemothorax, and pulmonary contusion was 0.889 (95% CI=0.798-0.979, P<0.001), 0.804 (95% CI=0.707-0.901, P<0.001), and 0.831 (95% CI=0.623-1.000, P=0.013), respectively. Area under the ROC curve of radiography was 0.674 (95% CI=0.544-0.803, P=0.008) for detection of pneumothorax, 0.645 (95% CI=0.517-0.772, P=0.026) for hemothorax, and 0.547 (95% CI=0.289-0.805, P=0.724) for pulmonary contusion. Comparison of area under the ROC curve declared the significant superiority of ultrasonography in detection of pneumothorax, hemothorax and pulmonary contusion (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Lung ultrasound has higher sensitivity and accuracy than chest radiography in the initial evaluation of chest trauma. For children with acute chest trauma, lung ultrasound should be the first choice.