Sacrum Ultrasonography: A Viable Alternative to Radiography in Infants with normal Sacrum? ‎

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Aim: Radiography, as the main method for diagnosis of abnormalities in sacrum, exposes infants to ionizing radiation. This study was aimed to compare the agreement of sacrum ultrasonography with radiography for the diagnosis of sacrum abnormalities. Methods: 129 infants under the age of six months, who were candidate for abdominal and/or pelvis radiography were assessed. Sacrum ultrasonography and radiography were performed by a single radiologist using the same devices. The sacral ratio was calculated for all patients based on ultrasonography and radiography findings and agreement between the two methods was calculated by Bland Altman's chart. Results: The mean of sacral ratio in studied infants based on radiography was 0.70±0.11 and based on ultrasonography was 0.72±0.05. Based on Bland Altman the mean difference between ultrasonography and radiology was 4.6 cm (confidence intervals of 8.18 ± 5.6). Conclusion: Sacrum ultrasonography could be safely used in the investigation of sacral ratio to detect sacrum abnormalities in infants, although, additional assessment are required for accurate assessment of ultrasonography with radiography.