MRI shows a high incidence of carpal fractures in children with posttraumatic radial-sided wrist tenderness

Peter Jørgsholm, Niels Thomsen, Jack Besjakov, Sven Abrahamsson, Anders Björkman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background and purpose — The epidemiology and optimal diagnostics of wrist injuries in children are not known. We describe fractures revealed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a prospective population of children and adolescents with posttraumatic radial-sided wrist tenderness, and compare the diagnostic value of radiographs and computed tomography (CT) with that of MRI. Patients and methods — From 2004 to 2007, patients less than 18 years of age who presented at our emergency department were included in the study. 90 wrists in 89 patients underwent clinical, radiographic, and low-field MRI investigation. If plain radiographs or MRI revealed a scaphoid fracture, a supplementary CT scan was performed. Sensitivity and specificity of radiographs and CT for diagnosis of scaphoid fractures was calculated using MRI as the reference standard. Results — 74 fractures were diagnosed in 61 of 90 wrists using MRI; 48 wrists had a scaphoid fracture, 8 had a distal radius fracture, 7 had a capitate fracture, and 3 had a triquetrum fracture. The most common combination of fractures was scaphoid and capitate. The sensitivity of radiographs for visualization of scaphoid fractures was 54% and the specificity was 100%. The sensitivity for other fractures was

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)533-537
Number of pages5
JournalActa Orthopaedica
Volume87
Issue number5
Early online date2016 Jul 18
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging
  • Orthopedics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'MRI shows a high incidence of carpal fractures in children with posttraumatic radial-sided wrist tenderness'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this