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. 2020 Jul 23;2020(7):CD013031. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013031.pub2

Abdulrahman 2015.

Study characteristics
Patient Sampling Location: Doha, Qatar
Period of data collection: July 2011 to January 2013
Sampling technique: consecutive sampling
Patient characteristics and setting Sample size: 610 lung fields (305 patients)
Median age: 34 years old
Male gender: 98%
Blunt trauma: 100%
Penetrating trauma: 0%
Inclusion criteria: adult ED patients with blunt chest trauma needing resuscitation and CT chest as per ATLS guidelines
Exclusion criteria: chest tube prior to CT chest, penetrating trauma, incomplete/inaccurate data
Index tests CUS
  • Operator: trauma surgeons

  • Probe: 10 MHz linear probe

  • Positivity definition: absence of pleural glistening (lung slide) or comet‐tail artefacts


CXR in supine position interpreted by trauma radiologist.
Target condition and reference standard(s) Reference standard: CT of the chest interpreted by trauma radiologist or rush of air or bubbling in chest drain after tube thoracostomy
Target condition: traumatic pneumothorax
Flow and timing Time to CUS: unclear
Time to CXR: unclear
Patients lost to follow‐up or excluded: 12 patients excluded for duplicate entries and incomplete data
Comparative  
Notes Unclear if the same trauma radiologist interpreted both the CXR and CT.
Methodological quality
Item Authors' judgement Risk of bias Applicability concerns
DOMAIN 1: Patient Selection
Was a consecutive or random sample of patients enrolled? Yes    
Did the study avoid inappropriate exclusions? Yes    
Could the selection of patients have introduced bias?   Low risk  
Are there concerns that the included patients and setting do not match the review question?     Low concern
DOMAIN 2: Index Test (CUS)
Were index test results interpreted without knowledge of the results of CT or TT? Yes    
Were index test results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the other index test? Yes    
Did the authors prespecify the criteria for a positive CUS finding? Yes    
Could the conduct or interpretation of the index test have introduced bias?   Low risk  
Are there concerns that the index test, its conduct, or interpretation differ from the review question?     Low concern
DOMAIN 2: Index Test (CXR)
Were index test results interpreted without knowledge of the results of CT or TT? Unclear    
Were index test results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the other index test? Yes    
Did the authors prespecify the criteria for a positive CUS finding?      
Could the conduct or interpretation of the index test have introduced bias?   Unclear risk  
Are there concerns that the index test, its conduct, or interpretation differ from the review question?     Low concern
DOMAIN 3: Reference Standard
Is the reference standards likely to correctly classify the target condition? Yes    
Were the reference standard results interpreted without knowledge of the results of CUS? Yes    
Were the reference standard results interpreted without knowledge of the results of CXR? Unclear    
Could the reference standard, its conduct, or its interpretation have introduced bias?   Unclear risk  
Are there concerns that the target condition as defined by the reference standard does not match the question?     Low concern
DOMAIN 4: Flow and Timing
Did all patients receive the same reference standard? Yes    
Were all patients included in the analysis? No    
Was there an appropriate interval between CUS, CXR, and CT/TT? Unclear    
Could the patient flow have introduced bias?   High risk