A false negative technetium 99m bone scan in a 53-year-old man with a fractured tibia and fractured clavicles conducted 88 h after the accident.

Abstract

Technetium (Tc) 99m bone scan is used as a diagnostic tool in cases of suspected fractures, and in differentiating between old and acute fracture. The false negative rate 72h after the injury in the under 65-year-old population is less than 5%. A 53-year-old motorcyclist was admitted to the emergency room after a road accident, suffering fractures of the tibia and both clavicles. A Tc 99m bone scan that was performed more than 72h after the injury, because of suspicion of an undiagnosed hip fracture, did not demonstrate increased uptake at the fracture sites. The person involved was relatively young (53 years old), and the bone scan was performed more than 3 days after the injury. Despite these two facts, the bone scan was negative at the fracture sites.