Radiologic diagnosis of pneumothorax in combat trauma

Abstract

Background. Chest injuries during combat operations occupy a prominent place and often become the cause of mortality. Before the widespread introduction of imaging methods into clinical practice, the mortality rate for chest combat injuries exceeded 50 %. Objective: a comparative assessment of radiography and ultrasonography options in the diagnosis of pneumothorax that occurred as a result of combat trauma. Materials and methods. A comparative analysis of the radiography and ultrasonography results was carried out in 76 patients with pneumothorax due to chest combat trauma. Results. During X-ray in the supine position, the sensitivity of the method was 58.1 %, specificity — 72.7 %, accuracy — 64.5 %, positive predictive value — 73.5 %, negative predictive value — 57.1 %. The sensitivity of the method in the sitting position of patients was 71.9 %, specificity — 89.5 %, accuracy — 76.3 %, positive predictive value — 95.3 %, negative predictive value — 51.5 %. Ultrasound diagnosis of pneumothorax was based on identifying the “barcode” sign due to the lack of sliding of the visceral pleura during the patient’s inspiration. The sensitivity of ultrasonography in B-mode was 90.8 %, specificity — 81.8 %, accuracy — 89.5 %, positive predictive value — 96.7 %, negative predictive value — 60.0 %, and in combined B + M modes — 94.0, 88.9, 93.4, 98.4, 66.7 %, respectively. In the diagnosis of large pneumothorax, the sensitivity of radiography was 96.8 %, specificity — 100.0 %, accuracy — 96.9 %, positive predictive value — 100.0 %, negative predictive value — 50.0 %, respectively, and of ultrasonography — 96.7, 100.0, 96.9, 100.0, 66.7 %, respectively. Conclusions. Ultrasonography has greater sensitivity for diagnosing small pneumothorax than conventional radiography, especially in bedridden patients. Ultrasonography in combined B + M modes can be both a primary and a clarifying method for diagnosing pneumothorax in combat trauma.