Objective: To evaluate the interest of a grid and the experience of the interpreter to interpretate the chest radiographs (CRs) of patients with thoracic trauma, the reference is the helicoidal computed tomography (HCT).
Study design: Prospective observational study.
Material: CRs and HCT of 50 thorax trauma patients.
Method: CRs were analysed without a grid (L) and results were compared with those obtained in an anterior study with a grid (G). The interpreter were residents in anaesthesiology (DESAR; G: n = 6/L: n = 4), residents in radiology (DESR; G: n = 3/L: n = 5), senior anaesthesiologists (MAR; G: n = 5/L: n = 4), and senior radiologists (MR; G: n = 3/L: n = 5). The reference was the HCT. The lectors were compared.
Results: The interpretation of the CRs was neither influenced by the experience and the specialty of the lector nor by the use of a grid. Perhaps the formation is sufficient for the anaesthesiologists to evaluate the essential lesions in the trauma patient and treat them.