Distal forearm fractures can be reliably diagnosed using ultrasound.

Forearm fractures are so common that any improvement (however small) in the patient pathway will be likely to tangibly improve outcomes. This was a thorough systematic review of papers going back to the 1940s and including 4 different languages with 2 reviewers (so we can probably forgive them that there was no independent arbitration of areas of disagreement between them). The results should make all Emergency Departments sit up and take note – ultrasound is a reliable tool to diagnose forearm fractures. For ultrasound aficionados it will be pleasing to see this work is supported by some very recent prospective evidence (Rowlands 2016).