Could Ultrasound Be Used as a Triage Tool in Diagnosing Fractures in Children? A Literature Review

Abstract

Fracture is one of the most frequent causes of emergency department visits in children, conventional radiography being the standard imaging tool used for following procedures and treatment. This imagistic method is irradiating and harmful, especially for children due to their high cell division rate. For this reason, we searched the literature to see if musculoskeletal ultrasound is a good alternative for diagnostic and follow-up regarding fractures in the pediatric population. After searching the databases using MeSH terms and manual filters, 24 articles that compare X-ray and ultrasound regarding their specificity and sensitivity in diagnosing fractures were included in this study. In the majority of the studied articles, the specificity and sensitivity of ultrasound are around 90–100%, and with high PPVs (positive predictive values) and NPVs (negative predictive values). Although it cannot replace conventional radiography, it is a great complementary tool in fracture diagnosis, having a sensitivity of nearly 100% when combined with clinical suspicion of fracture, compared with X-ray.