Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia ()

Reliability of the radiographic union scale in tibial fractures (RUST)

  • Fernando Antonio Silva de Azevedo Filho,
  • Ricardo Britto Cotias,
  • Matheus Lemos Azi,
  • Armando Augusto de Almeida Teixeira

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rboe.2016.05.006
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 52, no. 1
pp. 35 – 39

Abstract

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ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the inter- and intra observer reproducibility of the radiographic score of consolidation of the tibia shaft fractures. METHODS: Fifty-one sets of radiographs in anteroposterior (AP) and profile (P) of the tibial shaft treated with intramedullary nail were obtained. The analysis of X-rays was performed in two stages, with a 21-day interval between assessments by a group of nine evaluators. To evaluate the reproducibility of RUST score between the evaluators, the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) with a 95% confidence interval was used. ICC values range from +1, representing perfect agreement, to -1, complete disagreement. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation among all evaluators: ICC = 0.87 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.91). The intraobserver agreement proved to be substantial with ICC = 0.88 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.91) . CONCLUSION: This study confirms that the RUST scale shows a high degree of reliability and agreement.

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