• F Münn, R A Laun, A Asmus, R Bülow, S Bakir, L Haralambiev, A Eisenschenk, and S Kim.
• Klinik und Poliklinik für Unfall-, Wiederherstellungschirurgie und Rehabilitative Medizin, Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Sauerbruchstr, 17475, Greifswald, Germany.
• Bmc Musculoskel Dis. 2020 Jan 22; 21 (1): 49.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of whole-body CT for diagnosis of hand and forearm fractures in intubated patients with suspected polytrauma.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis on data collected from two trauma centres in Germany, including demographics, ISS, clinical symptoms, depiction in whole-body CT, and time to diagnosis.ResultsOut of 426 patients included in the study, 66 (15.5%) suffered a hand or forearm fracture. The total number of fractures was 132, the whole-body CT report mentioned 98 (74.2%). 16 (12,1%) fractures of 12 patients were diagnosed later than 24 h after admission. Late diagnoses of fractures of the hand occurred more often if the hand was not fully included in the CT scan field. The sensitivity of whole-body CT for cases with fractures of hand and/or forearm with full inclusion of the corresponding area in the scan field was 80.2%.ConclusionsThis study shows that whole-body CT is a valuable diagnostic tool for hand fractures in polytrauma patients. Hands should be evaluated regardless of clinical presentation in intubated patients after suspected polytrauma if they are included in the whole-body CT.

32 keywords...

hide…