Detecting Spinal Fractures in Severe Trauma Patients

The results were reported in the June 2003 issue of Radiology.

The study involved 100 adult patients who had sustained severe trauma and underwent both conventional x-rays and MDCT at the hospital. The x-rays were reviewed independently by three radiologists and two orthopedic surgeons, while the MDCT findings were reviewed by the three radiologists. The researchers found MDCT showed 97.2% sensitivity in depicting the unstable spine fractures, while conventional x-rays showed a sensitivity of only 33.3%. The average time for the x-ray exam was 33 minutes, compared with 40 minutes for the MDCT exam. Using MDCT alone, doctors could potentially retain the same level of accuracy and reduce the exam time by nearly 50%.

"We found that performing both tests on severe trauma patients does not improve diagnosis,” said lead author Max Wintermark, M.D., clinical and research fellow in the department of diagnostic and interventional radiology at Lausanne University Hospital (Switzerland). "Results showed that MDCT depicted more spine fractures than were shown on plain film x-rays.” Eliminating x-rays also spares radiation to the patient, he noted.




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Lausanne U. Hospital