The diagnosis of sternal pain is as follows.
Sternal pain is only one symptom in the clinic. There are many conditions that trigger sternal pain. If there is significant sternal pain, coughing, visible deformity at the site of the sternal fracture and pressure pain with shallow, rapid breathing and weak cough, a chest x-ray can be done to determine if it is a sternal fracture. If there is localised enlargement and pain in the rib cartilage, with pressure and pain that can be aggravated by coughing or changes in position, you can determine whether this is non-specific costochondritis by clinical presentation and signs. There are also many other diseases that can cause sternal pain, such as chest wall tumours, primary mediastinal tumours, thoracic aortic aneurysms and acute leukaemia. A specialist examination in hospital is required to diagnose exactly what the disease is.