Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accordance between scintigraphy and radiography in the early period following blunt thoracic trauma.
Design: Double-blind, prospective clinical study.
Methods: Thirty-four adult patients with blunt thoracic trauma were examined by plain radiography and scintigraphy within 24 hours of trauma.
Results: Radiography displayed pathologies in 25 (73.5%), while scintigraphy suggested pathologies in 24 (70.5%) patients. Rib fractures were identified radiographically in 16 (47%) and scintigraphically in 17 (50%) patients. Lateral radiograph of the sternum showed fracture in 10 (52.6%), while scintigraphy suggested fracture in 14 (73.6%) patients with suspected sternal trauma.
Conclusion: Scintigraphy gave better results in the evaluation of sternal fractures during the early period of thorax trauma. Conventional plain radiography is thought to be the initial imaging modality, because it saves time and shows hemothorax or pneumothorax besides the osseous abnormality.