Radlines - Radiology Guidelines

X-ray of rib fractures

Right-sided rib fractures with pneumothorax

Author: Mikael Häggström [notes 1]

Planning

Indications

Projectional radiography ("X-ray) is indicated for rib fractures with suspected complications of mainly pneumothorax or haemothorax.[1] Otherwise, X-ray is not indicated in absence of suspected complications, mainly because undisplaced fractures may not be seen on X-ray, and their detection does not change management.[1]

Alternatives
  • CT of the thorax is generally preferable in severe thoracic injury.[1]
  • Bone scintigraphy is more sensitive in detecting metastases.

Notes

  1. ↑ For a full list of contributors, see article history. Creators of images are attributed at the image description pages, seen by clicking on the images. See Radlines:Authorship for details.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 . Trauma X-ray - Axial skeleton. Radiology Masterclass. Retrieved on 2018-07-09.