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Bedside ultrasound offers a rapid nonionizing alternative to radiography for many conditions. Investigators assessed the sensitivity and specificity of emergency physician-performed ultrasound and radiography for detecting lateral malleolar fractures in a convenience sample of 120 adults who presented to a single emergency department in Turkey with ankle injuries and lateral malleolus tenderness. Computed tomography (CT) was performed to adjudicate discrepancies between ultrasound and x-ray findings. Evaluation of x-ray or CT images by an orthopedic surgeon was the gold standard.
Fractures were detected in 47 patients by ultrasound and in 39 by radiography. CT was performed in 49 patients. The sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound were 1…