Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE CASE REPORTS, sa.4, ss.77-80, 2023 (ESCI)
Sternal fractures are extremely rare in children. It often develops after high-energy chest trauma. Many methods other than ultrasonography are used in the diagnosis of sternal fractures. However, Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can outperform other methods due to its ease of use, less radiation, and fast results.A thirteen-year-old male patient was brought to the Pediatric Emergency Department by ambulance due to chest pain that started following blunt chest trauma after falling from a height of 160 cm. The patient's respiratory and cardiovascular examinations were normal in his initial evaluation in the trauma room. On palpation, there was local tenderness in the middle 1/3 of the sternum. No pathology was detected in Extended-Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (E-FAST). The portable postero-anterior chest radiograph was normal. POCUS was performed after the patient did not respond to analgesic treatment and had local sensitivity on the sternum. A sternal fracture was detected. Suspicious cortical irregularity was detected in repeated lateral chest X-ray and thorax Computed Tomography (CT) was reported as normal by the radiology department. When CT was re-evaluated, a greenstick fracture was observed in the sternum body. The patient was discharged without any complications.In this article, the importance of diagnosing a sternal fracture case whose CT was reported as normal with POCUS and integrating rapid, noninvasive and radiation-free ultrasonography into the physical examination will be discussed in managing these patients.