7th rib fracture due to blunt trauma

Rib fractures are the most common (25%) injuries resulting from blunt chest trauma, and are usually revealed on plain radiographs. Radiography sometimes canmay not show fractures, especially those in nondisplaced fractures and costal cartilage fractures,

CT is the gold standard technique atfor showing rib fractures. However the, cartilage fracturefractures can be easily overlooked when focusing only on bony fractures or lungpulmonary parenchymal tissue and also doesn't show up in the commonly used bone window 3D volume rendering.

In the literature, the usefulness of USG in detecting rib fractures varies widely: from not significant to more sensitive than radiography.

The greatest advantage of USG known thatis the ability to directly explore the tender point by asking the patient to pin-point the most painful rib pointed byduring the patientexamination..

In patients presenting with blunt chest trauma patients, USG can quicklyprovide a prompt means to confirm or rule out associated findings such as pleural effusion, pneumothorax and hemothorax.

On the other hand, the advantages of USG including non-invasiveness, portability, relative inexpensiveness, lack of radiation, and repeatability, make USGit a valuable diagnostic tool.

In blunt chest trauma patients, USG can quickly confirm or rule out associated findings such as pleural effusion, pneumothorax and hemothorax.

In paediatric population, and pregnants USG may be preferable. 

This case shows the importance of USG in the evaluation of rib fracture esspecially in minor or mild blunt chest trauma

There is a displaced fracture (yellow arrow) of the 7th right costa at the site of pain pointed by the patient.

For comparison, asymptomatic 7th left costa was examined at second image which was intact.

Costochondral junction: white arrow

Costal cartilage (rib cartilage segment): red arrow

Rib boneosseos segment: blue arrow