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

• Main Authors: Fernando Antonio Silva de Azevedo Filho, Ricardo Britto Cotias, Matheus Lemos Azi, Armando Augusto de Almeida Teixeira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Ortopedia e Traumatologia
• Series: Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia
• Subjects: Tibia; Fracture healing; Radiography
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-36162017000100035&lng=en&tlng=en

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.