Systematic Reviews on Chest Ultrasonography and Chest Radiography for the Emergency Diagnosis of Traumatic Pneumothorax

Document Type : Systematic Review

Authors

1 Department of Radiology, Imam Hossein Hospital, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Radiology, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran

3 Department of Radiology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

10.30491/tm.2024.446539.1704

Abstract

Introduction
Early diagnosis of pneumothorax is essential in reducing complications and fatalities among trauma patients. Studies have shown that chest ultrasonography (CUS) is reliable for diagnosing this condition. This review aims to evaluate the accuracy of CUS and chest radiography (CXR) in detecting pneumothorax in patients who have suffered trauma.
Methods
PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and ISI were searched between January 1, 2013, and January 1, 2024. Also, a manual search in Google Scholar and Google was conducted. Published Articles in the English language were included. After removing any duplicate records, two researchers independently searched and screened the titles and abstracts of the remaining articles. The researchers assessed full-text papers, making sure they met the inclusion criteria. Any differences in opinion were resolved with the help of another investigator.
Results
Overall, 3215 records were discovered. After assessing their eligibility and eliminating duplicates, 145 records were chosen for a detailed textual study. Nine studies from this group were selected for the final assessment. Studies demonstrated that the sensitivity of CUS in diagnosing pneumothorax ranges from 74% to 91%, while the specificity ranges from 96% to 99%. The sensitivity of CXR in diagnosing pneumothorax ranges from 40% to 52%, while the specificity ranges from 99% to 99%.
Conclusion
According to the current meta-analysis, ultrasonography is more precise than supine CXR in detecting pneumothorax. The results indicate that CUS has superior diagnostic accuracy compared to supine CXR for diagnosing pneumothorax, making it the preferred alternative.

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 28 April 2024
  • Receive Date: 02 March 2024
  • Revise Date: 16 March 2024
  • Accept Date: 28 April 2024