CXR in Blunt Trauma

Where does the role of a chest X-ray lie in major trauma?

With the ever increasing use of CT and ultrasound in the resus room what role does the old school CXR hold? How many injuries will it pick up? How many will it miss? And when is the extra delay justified?

This podcast looks at a recent paper on the topic and some related national guidelines. Enjoy!

References

Prevalence and Clinical Import of Thoracic Injury Identified by Chest Computed Tomography but Not Chest Radiography in Blunt Trauma: Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study. Langdorf MI. Ann Emerg Med. 2015 Dec

NICE 2016: Major trauma; assessment and initial management

The Royal College of Radiologists 2011; Standards of practice and guidance for trauma radiology in severely injured patients