1Department of Radiology, Hallym University, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea. khc@hallym.or.kr 2Department of Surgery, Hallym University, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea. 3Department of Radiology, Cheju National University College of Medicine, Korea.
Published online: December 1, 2011.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to know whether ultrasonography is proper diagnostic tool for decision of treatment method or not, as compared the efficacy of US in allowing identifying fracture patterns of nasal bone with that of CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with nasal trauma were investigated prospectively by CT and US. According to CT and ultrasonographic findings, each case of nasal bone injury were rated as grade 1 (nasal injury but not fracture), grade 2 (simple fracture without displacement), grade 3 (unilateral simple fracture with displacement), grade 4 (bilateral simple fractures with displacement), and grade 5 (bilateral comminuted fractures with depression). Assessment for ultrasonographic method were defined as overestimations or underestimation according to whether the nasal fracture had been assigned a higher or lower grade at the review of the findings of CT. The correlation between the results of CT and ultrasonography were measured. RESULTS: In ultrasonographic estimation of grade of 50 cases of nasal bone injuries, there were correctly graded in 42 cases, overestimated in 5 cases, underestimated in 3 cases. In allowing accurate grading of nasal bone injury, images of nasal ultrasonography correlated closely with those of CT (r = 0.796). CONCLUSION: Nasal ultrasonography is a reliable method that allows appropriate grading of nasal bone injury and would be a useful first line imaging method in providing the detail necessary for proper management of patients with mild simple nasal bone injury.
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