Interrater reliability of sonographic examinations of orbital fractures
Received 7 June 2004; received in revised form 12 June 2004; accepted 14 July 2004.
Refers to corrigendum:
Corrigendum to “Interrater reliability of sonographic examinations of orbital fractures” [Eur. J. Radiol. 54 (2005) 344–351]
Siegfried Jank, Martina Deibl, Heinrich Strobl, Andreas Oberrauch, Alessandro Nicasi, Martin Missmann, Gerd Bodner
European Journal of Radiology
August 2005 (Vol. 55, Issue 2, Page 298) Full Text |
Full-Text PDF (28 KB)
Abstract
Objective:
The purpose of this study is to determine whether there are statistically significant variations among different observers when examining fractures of the orbital walls.
Material and methods:
From December 2003 to April 2004, 28 patients with clinically suspected orbital fractures were examined by ultrasound prospectively. The US images of the infra-orbital margins, the orbital floors, the medial and lateral orbital walls of each patient were reexamined by two independent investigators.
Results:
Computed tomography revealed fractures of the orbital floor in 28 out of 31 patients (90.3%). The infra-orbital margins showed fractures of 14 of 31 patients (45.2%). The ultrasound examinations of the orbits by the three examiners presented satisfactory correlation regarding sensitivity and specificity. There were no significant differences between investigators. There was good agreement among the ultrasound examiners regarding the infra-orbital margins. This was not the case for the orbital floors.
Conclusions:
If there are clear cut clinical findings ultrasound examination could represent an alternative to computed tomography. If the clinical findings were indeterminate, computed tomography was essential as implicated by this study. Accordingly, further evaluation of ultrasound examinations of fractures of the orbital margins and floors are necessary.
ABSTRACT