Role of emergency chest ultrasound in traumatic pneumothorax. An updated meta-analysis

Abstract

Aim: To assess chest ultrasound (US) diagnostic accuracy in pneumothorax diagnosing.

Material and methods: Prospec-tive studies related to the US pneumothorax diagnostic accuracy in trauma patients were extensively searched from 2000 up to November 2020. The studies features and findings were gathered using a standardised form and the methodological quality of the investigations was evaluated using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2).

Results:Twelve articles were finally chosen for quantitative analysis. The overall sensitivity of US scan in pneumothorax diagnosis was 89% (95%CI 86-91%). Specificity was 96% (95%CI 95-97%). The diagnostic odds ratio was 193.94 (59.009-637.40) at 95%CI, thus demonstrating high chest US accuracy in pneumothorax diagnosis.

Conclusion: Despite the limitations of the included studies, this systematic review and meta-analysis concluded that chest US is a reliable method for diagnosing pneu-mothorax in traumatized patients.