Hand-Held Thoracic Sonography for Detecting Post-Traumatic Pneumothoraces: The Extended Focused Assessment With Sonography For Trauma (EFAST)

Thoracic ultrasound (EFAST) has shown promise in inferring the presence of post-traumatic pneumothoraces (PTXs) and may have a particular value in identifying occult pneumothoraces (OPTXs) missed by the AP supine chest radiograph (CXR). However, the diagnostic utility of hand-held US has not been previously evaluated in this role.

Thoracic US examinations were performed during the initial resuscitation of injured patients at a provincial trauma referral center. A high frequency linear transducer and a 2.4 kg US attached to a video-recorder were used. Real-time EFAST examinations for PTXs were blindly compared with the subsequent results of CXRs, a composite standard (CXR, chest and abdominal CT scans, clinical course, and invasive interventions), and a CT gold standard (CT only). Charts were reviewed for in-hospital outcomes and follow-up.