SynthesisBMC emergency medicine2019
The effectiveness of ultrasound in the detection of fractures in adults with suspected upper or lower limb injury: a systematic review and subgroup meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC emergency medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05602077 (The Diagnostic Accuracy of Sonography in Indirect Elbow Trauma Compared With Plain X-ray), which is not on this map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Diagnostic Accuracy of Sonography in Indirect Elbow Trauma Compared With Plain X-ray: a Prospective Single Centre Comparative Diagnostic Accuracy Study
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Association between melatonin receptor gene polymorphisms and polycystic ovarian syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Bioscience reports · 2020Pooled it
- Acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of a point-of-care ultrasound program for the diagnosis of forearm fractures in rural Nepal: a mid-level provider qualitative study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Musculoskeletal ultrasound in the emergency department: a narrative review for general radiologists.Emergency radiology · 2026Review
- Research progress and practical applications of musculoskeletal ultrasound in military training injuries.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Ultrasonography can be more informative than computed tomography for diagnosing radial head fractures: An illustrative case series.Ultraschall in der Medizin (Stuttgart, Germany : 1980) · 2025Article
- Ultrasonographic Diagnosis and Computed Tomographic Confirmation of a Scapular Body Stress Fracture in an Elite Boxer: A Case Report.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Diagnostic value of high-resolution ultrasonography and computed tomography in the diagnosis of nasal bone fracture.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2025Article
- Manual Versus Hammer Percussion Frequency-Domain Acoustic Screening for Hip Fracture: A Comparative Study.Cureus · 2025Article
- Emerging Diagnostic Approaches for Musculoskeletal Disorders: Advances in Imaging, Biomarkers, and Clinical Assessment.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- SonoBox: development of a robotic ultrasound tomograph for the ultrasound diagnosis of paediatric forearm fractures.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2024Article
- Diagnosis of a Stress Fracture Of a Metatarsal Bone with Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS).POCUS journal · 2024Article
- Comparative use of ultrasound and radiography for the detection of fractures: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2023Article
- Article
- Space habitats for bioengineering and surgical repair: addressing the requirement for reconstructive and research tissues during deep-space missions.NPJ microgravity · 2023Review
- [Imaging after trauma in clinics and practice for children and adolescents : Part 1 of the results of a nationwide online survey of the Pediatric Traumatology Section of the German Trauma Society].Unfallchirurgie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2023Article
- Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography for occult femoral neck fracture.Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma · 2023Article
- Snowed In: A Case Report on the Utilization of Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Fractures.Cureus · 2023Article
- Ultrasound imaging of bone fractures.Insights into imaging · 2022Review
- Could Ultrasound Be Used as a Triage Tool in Diagnosing Fractures in Children? A Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Ultrasound in forearm fractures: a pragmatic study assessing the utility of Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) in identifying and managing distal radius fractures.Emergency radiology · 2021Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of the present review is to assess the effectiveness of ultrasound (US) in the detection of upper and lower limb bone fractures in adults compared to a diagnostic gold standard available in secondary and tertiary care centres (e.g. radiography, CT scan or MRI).
methodsThe review followed PRISMA guidelines and used a database-specific search strategy with Medline, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library plus secondary sources (see supplementary material for completed PRISMA checklist). Diagnostic performance of ultrasound was assessed with a qualitative synthesis and a meta-analysis of two data subgroups.
resultsTwenty-six studies were included (n = 2360; fracture prevalence =5.3 % to 75.0%); data were organised into anatomical subgroups, two of which were subjected to meta-analysis. Sensitivity and specificity ranged from 42.11 - 100% and 65.0 - 100%, with the highest diagnostic accuracy in fractures of the foot and ankle. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of US was 0.93 and 0.92 for upper limb fractures (I
conclusionUltrasonography demonstrates good diagnostic accuracy in the detection of upper and lower limb bone fractures in adults, especially in fractures of the foot and ankle. This is supported by pooled analysis of upper and lower limb fracture subgroups. Further research in larger populations is necessary to validate and strengthen the quality of the available evidence prior to recommending US as a first-line imaging modality for prehospital use.
trial registrationThe protocol is registered with the PROSPERO International register of systematic reviews: ID = CRD42017053640 .
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