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Diagnostic value of “bedside ultrasonography” and the “water bath technique” in distal forearm, wrist, and hand bone fractures

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Abstract

Bedside ultrasonography (BUS) has been widely used in many emergency evaluations, but the technique was not thoroughly evaluated for use in adult fractures. The water bath technique (WBT) is a modality which overcomes some important limitations of using BUS in extremity fractures. The study aims to evaluate and compare diagnostic values of BUS and WBT. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR−), and accuracy of BUS and WBT were calculated and compared by the McNemar chi-square test. BUS had the highest sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and LR+ in the distal forearm. The highest NPV and LR− of BUS were seen in phalangeal and wrist injuries, respectively. The WBT examination had the highest sensitivity in phalangeal injuries and the highest specificity, PPV, and LR+ in the distal forearm. The highest NPV and LR− of the WBT examination were seen in phalangeal and wrist injuries, respectively. The McNemar χ 2 values for the comparison of BUS and WBT indicate that the two techniques provide statistically different results. The ultrasound revealed excellent diagnostic values which make it a favorable alternative in evaluating upper extremity fractures in adults. The WBT provides even better results.

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Acknowledgments

This study was conducted under the accreditation and supervision of the Trauma Research Center of Baghiyatallah University of Medical Sciences. We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Radiology of Baghiyatallah Hospital in recruiting, evaluating, and managing the study subjects.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Trauma Research Center, Emergency Medicine Department, Baghiyatallah Hospital, Baghiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Mulla Sadra, Vanak, Tehran, Iran

    Hamid Reza Javadzadeh, Amir Davoudi, Mohammad Reza Ghane, Hasan Goodarzi, Mehrdad Faraji & Sadrollah Mahmoudi

  2. Community and Preventive Medicine Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Farnoush Davoudi

  3. Radiology Department, Baghiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Hojatolla Khajepoor

  4. Internal Medicine Department, Baghiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Mulla Sadra, Vanak, Tehran, Iran

    Somayeh Sadat Shariat

  5. Orthopedic Department, Baghiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Mulla Sadra, Vanak, Tehran, Iran

    Kazem Emami Meybodi

Authors
  1. Hamid Reza Javadzadeh
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  2. Amir Davoudi
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  3. Farnoush Davoudi
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  4. Mohammad Reza Ghane
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  5. Hojatolla Khajepoor
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  6. Hasan Goodarzi
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  7. Mehrdad Faraji
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  8. Sadrollah Mahmoudi
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  9. Somayeh Sadat Shariat
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  10. Kazem Emami Meybodi
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Correspondence to Amir Davoudi.

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Javadzadeh, H.R., Davoudi, A., Davoudi, F. et al. Diagnostic value of “bedside ultrasonography” and the “water bath technique” in distal forearm, wrist, and hand bone fractures. Emerg Radiol 21, 1–4 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-013-1161-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-013-1161-5

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