Volume 29, Issue 160, June 2025

Accuracy of diagnosing traumatic hemothorax and pneumothorax in the emergency department using chest ultrasound: Systematic review

Mazi Mohammed Alanazi^1♦, Mujtaba Matar Alnakhli², Abdullah Fuad Al Mula²

¹Saudi and Jordanian Board Emergency Medicine, Head of Emergency Research Unit, Emergency Department, First Health Cluster, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
²Saudi Board Emergency Medicine Resident, Emergency Department, First Health Cluster, King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Mazi Mohammed Alanazi; Saudi and Jordanian Board Emergency Medicine, Head of Emergency Research Unit, Emergency Department, First Health Cluster, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: A hemothorax in trauma patients must be diagnosed as soon as feasible because chest drainage can save a patient's life. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the accuracy of chest US for the emergency diagnosis of Pneumothorax and Hemothorax in adult trauma patients. Method: This review is reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards. With the assistance of a biological librarian, PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched for articles published from 2016 to 2024. Result and conclusion: Five publications that were published between 2016 and 2024 were considered in this analysis. The included papers aimed to assess how well the US performs diagnostically in identifying injuries linked to chest trauma, particularly PTX and HTX. When it comes to PTX and HTX detection, US is as sensitive as CXR. The US facilitates prompt diagnosis and treatment of chest injuries, even when CT is required for confirmation. The US requires additional procedures for confirmation, as it is less sensitive than CT and relies on operator competence. Because the US has a lesser sensitivity than CXR for traumatic PTX, it is not recommended to utilize it alone as a screening tool. Combining CXR with US increases the sensitivity of diagnosis.

Keywords: diagnosing, trauma, hemothorax, pneumothorax, emergency department, ultrasound

Medical Science, 2025, 29, e81ms3589

PDF

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v29i160.e81ms3589

Published: 12 June 2025