Do we really need plain and soft-tissue radiographies to detect radiolucent foreign bodies in the ED?

Turkcuer, Ibrahim; Atilla, Ridvan; Topacoglu, Hakan; Yanturali, Sedat; Kiyan, Selahattin; Kabakci, Neslihan; Bozkurt, Seyran; Cevik, Arif Alper

doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2006.03.013

« Previous Next »American Journal of Emergency Medicine
Volume 24, Issue 7 , Pages 763-768, November 2006

Do we really need plain and soft-tissue radiographies to detect radiolucent foreign bodies in the ED?

This article was presented as a poster in the Third Mediterranean Emergency Medicine Congress, September 1-5, 2005, Nice, France.

Ibrahim Turkcuer, MD
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, Inciralti, 35340 Izmir, Turkey
Ridvan Atilla, MD
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, Inciralti, 35340 Izmir, Turkey
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 232 412 27 02; fax: +90 232 259 97 23.
Hakan Topacoglu, MD
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, Inciralti, 35340 Izmir, Turkey
Sedat Yanturali, MD
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, Inciralti, 35340 Izmir, Turkey
Selahattin Kiyan, MD
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, Inciralti, 35340 Izmir, Turkey
Neslihan Kabakci, MD
- Department of Radiology, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, Inciralti, 35340 Izmir, Turkey
Seyran Bozkurt, MD
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Hospital, Inciralti, 35340 Izmir, Turkey
Arif Alper Cevik, MD
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Osmangazi University Hospital, 26480 Eskisehir, Turkey

Received 27 January 2006; received in revised form 28 February 2006; accepted 16 March 2006.

Abstract

Objective

The objective of this study was to compare 3 imaging techniques—plain radiography, soft-tissue radiography, and ultrasonography—in detecting nonradiopaque foreign bodies in soft tissue.

Methods

In this randomized, blinded, and descriptive in vitro study, 40 chicken thighs with 2 types of nonradiopaque foreign bodies (wood and rubber) and 40 chicken thighs as part of a control group were evaluated to detect soft-tissue foreign bodies with plain radiography, soft-tissue radiography, and high-frequency ultrasonography.

Results

The overall sensitivity, specificity, as well as positive predictive and negative predictive values of plain radiography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 5%, 90%, 33%, and 48%, respectively; those of soft-tissue radiography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 5%, 90%, 33%, and 48%, respectively; and those of ultrasonography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 90%, 80%, 81%, and 89%, respectively.

Conclusions

In this experimental model, the results show that high-frequency ultrasonography is superior to plain and soft-tissue radiographies and that the latter 2 techniques are similarly poor at detecting nonradiopaque foreign bodies.