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Sonographic diagnosis of toddler's fracture in the emergency department
Author(s) -
Lewis David,
Logan Peter
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/jcu.20192
Subject(s) - medicine , toddler , periosteum , radiography , ultrasound , hematoma , emergency department , radiology , tibia , surgery , psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry
We describe 3 cases of toddler's fracture of the tibia that were diagnosed via sonographic examination. In cases, initial radiographs did not show the fracture, whereas sonographic examination revealed a layer of low reflectivity superficial to the tibial cortex and an elevated periosteum, suggesting a fracture hematoma. The diagnosis was confirmed at 2–3 weeks with radiographs demonstrating periosteal reaction. Both fractures were treated with cast immobilization for 4 weeks and made a full recovery. The third case was diagnosed via sonography and was confirmed by the initial radiographs. These results strongly suggest that sonography can detect the presence of a fracture hematoma and thus may help diagnose this injury earlier. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 34 :190–194, 2006