• Richard D Pitcher, Arjan B van As, Virginia Sanders, Tania S Douglas, Nicole Wieselthaler, Ann Vlok, Sylvia Paverd, Tracy Kilborn, Heinz Rode, Herman Potgieter, and Stephen J Beningfield.
• Division of Paediatric Radiology, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, Klipfontein Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa. pitcher@iafrica.com
• Emerg Radiol. 2008 Jan 1;15(1):35-42.

AbstractA pilot study evaluating the use in paediatric polytrauma of the STATSCAN, a low-radiation dose, fan-beam digital radiography unit (Lodox Systems, Sandton, South Africa). Over 3 months, 23 polytrauma patients treated at the Emergency Unit of the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, were imaged on the STATSCAN. Image quality, diagnostic equivalence and clinical efficiency were compared with a computed radiography (CR) system (Fuji FCR 5000, Fuji Photo Film, Tokyo, Japan). The STATSCAN antero-posterior bodygram correlated well technically and diagnostically with CR, showing 96% of the fractures in the cohort. It allowed superior visualisation of the trachea and main bronchi and imaging was, on average, 13% faster than CR. The STATSCAN could play an important role in paediatric polytrauma. The clinical significance of its superior demonstration of the trachea and main bronchi requires further evaluation.

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