Are Chest Radiographs or Ultrasound More Accurate in Predicting a Pneumothorax or Need for a Thoracostomy Tube in Trauma Patients?

Background: Historically, chest radiographs (CXR) have been used to quickly diagnose pneumothorax (PTX) and hemothorax in trauma patients. Over the last 2 decades, chest ultrasound (CUS) as part of Extended Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (eFAST) has also become accepted as a modality for the early diagnosis of PTX in trauma patients.

Methods: We queried our institution's trauma databases for all trauma team activations from 2021 for patients with eFAST results.