Skeletal radiology
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Comparative Study
Acute paediatric ankle trauma: MRI versus plain radiography.
To evaluate the diagnosis of acute physeal ankle fractures on plain radiographs using MRI as the gold standard. ⋯ The incidence of false negative ankle fractures in plain radiographs was small and no complex ankle fractures were missed on radiographs. The total extent of complex fractures was, however, not always obvious on radiographs. In an unselected series of relatively mild ankle injuries, we were unable to show a single case where the treatment or prognosis based on plain radiography should have been significantly altered after having done a routine MRI examination. Plain radiography is still the diagnostic cornerstone of paediatric ankle injuries.