Chest ultrasound vs. Radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background The efficacy of bedside chest ultrasonography for the detection and diagnosis of pneumothorax is under debate. We aimed to compare Emergency Healthcare Workers performed chest ultrasonography with chest X-ray in the detection and diagnosis of pneumothorax in the emergency departm...

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Main Authors: Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois, Coline Burlet, Resa E. Lewiss, Reza Bagheri, Christophe Perrier, Jeannot Schmidt, Frédéric Dutheil
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-07-01
Series:The Ultrasound Journal
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13089-025-00441-5
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author Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois
Coline Burlet
Resa E. Lewiss
Reza Bagheri
Christophe Perrier
Jeannot Schmidt
Frédéric Dutheil
author_facet Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois
Coline Burlet
Resa E. Lewiss
Reza Bagheri
Christophe Perrier
Jeannot Schmidt
Frédéric Dutheil
author_sort Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background The efficacy of bedside chest ultrasonography for the detection and diagnosis of pneumothorax is under debate. We aimed to compare Emergency Healthcare Workers performed chest ultrasonography with chest X-ray in the detection and diagnosis of pneumothorax in the emergency department. Methods We queried PubMed, Cochrane, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and ClinicalTrials.gov databases from 2000 through January 2024. We included all studies (both retrospective and prospective) that compared the diagnostic performance of chest ultrasonography with chest radiography, using chest computed tomography as the gold standard. Participants are patients consulting in the emergency department and physician that performed the chest ultrasound was an Emergency Healthcare Workers. Studies reporting the sensitivity and specificity for both chest ultrasonography and chest X-ray met inclusion criteria. We applied a random effects meta-analysis methodology. We then performed a meta-regression analysis to search for influencing variables such as technical parameters of echograph, patients and pneumothorax. Main results 15 studies totaling 3,171 patients were analyzed. 71% of patients were male with a mean age of 40.2 years. The mean prevalence of pneumothorax was 27.6% (95 CI 20.9 to 34.3). Chest ultrasonography had higher sensitivity (79.4%, 68.2 to 90.7) compared to chest X-ray (48.1%, 36.8 to 59.4), and a greater negative predictive value (chest ultrasonography = 94.3%, 91.2 to 97.3, and chest X-ray = 87.9%, 84.1 to 91.6). There was no statistical difference in specificity between the two modalities: chest ultrasonography 99.5%, 99 to 100 and chest X-ray 99.8%, 99.4 to 100) or in positive predictive value (chest ultrasonography 94.2%, 90.5 to 97.9 vs chest X-ray 96.7%,92 to 100). Characteristics of echograph or pneumothorax and patients sociodemographic did not influence results. Conclusion In this systematic review and meta-analysis, chest ultrasonography performed by Emergency Healthcare Workers, had greater sensitivity and negative predictive value than chest radiography for the diagnosis of pneumothorax in emergency department patients.
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spelling doaj-art-a1f47e6ebb68412a949199752bf9c9ec2025-08-20T03:45:57ZengSpringerOpenThe Ultrasound Journal2524-89872025-07-0117111310.1186/s13089-025-00441-5Chest ultrasound vs. Radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysisJean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois0Coline Burlet1Resa E. Lewiss2Reza Bagheri3Christophe Perrier4Jeannot Schmidt5Frédéric Dutheil6CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Emergency Department, CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, Université Clermont AuvergneEmergency Department, CHU Clermont–FerrandDepartment of Emergency Medicine, The University of Alabama at BirminghamDepartment of Exercise Physiology, University of IsfahanEmergency Department, CHU Clermont–FerrandCHU Clermont-Ferrand, Emergency Department, CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, Université Clermont AuvergneCNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, CHU Clermont–Ferrand, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, WittyFit, Université Clermont AuvergneAbstract Background The efficacy of bedside chest ultrasonography for the detection and diagnosis of pneumothorax is under debate. We aimed to compare Emergency Healthcare Workers performed chest ultrasonography with chest X-ray in the detection and diagnosis of pneumothorax in the emergency department. Methods We queried PubMed, Cochrane, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and ClinicalTrials.gov databases from 2000 through January 2024. We included all studies (both retrospective and prospective) that compared the diagnostic performance of chest ultrasonography with chest radiography, using chest computed tomography as the gold standard. Participants are patients consulting in the emergency department and physician that performed the chest ultrasound was an Emergency Healthcare Workers. Studies reporting the sensitivity and specificity for both chest ultrasonography and chest X-ray met inclusion criteria. We applied a random effects meta-analysis methodology. We then performed a meta-regression analysis to search for influencing variables such as technical parameters of echograph, patients and pneumothorax. Main results 15 studies totaling 3,171 patients were analyzed. 71% of patients were male with a mean age of 40.2 years. The mean prevalence of pneumothorax was 27.6% (95 CI 20.9 to 34.3). Chest ultrasonography had higher sensitivity (79.4%, 68.2 to 90.7) compared to chest X-ray (48.1%, 36.8 to 59.4), and a greater negative predictive value (chest ultrasonography = 94.3%, 91.2 to 97.3, and chest X-ray = 87.9%, 84.1 to 91.6). There was no statistical difference in specificity between the two modalities: chest ultrasonography 99.5%, 99 to 100 and chest X-ray 99.8%, 99.4 to 100) or in positive predictive value (chest ultrasonography 94.2%, 90.5 to 97.9 vs chest X-ray 96.7%,92 to 100). Characteristics of echograph or pneumothorax and patients sociodemographic did not influence results. Conclusion In this systematic review and meta-analysis, chest ultrasonography performed by Emergency Healthcare Workers, had greater sensitivity and negative predictive value than chest radiography for the diagnosis of pneumothorax in emergency department patients.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13089-025-00441-5Bedside ultrasoundChest ultrasoundChest x-rayPneumothoraxEmergency department
spellingShingle Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois
Coline Burlet
Resa E. Lewiss
Reza Bagheri
Christophe Perrier
Jeannot Schmidt
Frédéric Dutheil
Chest ultrasound vs. Radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysis
The Ultrasound Journal
Bedside ultrasound
Chest ultrasound
Chest x-ray
Pneumothorax
Emergency department
title Chest ultrasound vs. Radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysis
title_full Chest ultrasound vs. Radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysis
title_fullStr Chest ultrasound vs. Radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysis
title_full_unstemmed Chest ultrasound vs. Radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysis
title_short Chest ultrasound vs. Radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department: a systematic review and meta-analysis
title_sort chest ultrasound vs radiograph for pneumothorax diagnosis performed by emergency healthcare workers in the emergency department a systematic review and meta analysis
topic Bedside ultrasound
Chest ultrasound
Chest x-ray
Pneumothorax
Emergency department
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13089-025-00441-5
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