Posts in Orthopedics
Under Pressure: An Uncommon Location for Compartment Syndrome

A 35-year-old-patient presents following motor vehicle collision as a restrained passenger. The vehicle's dashboard was displaced into the cabin, causing prolonged entrapment of the patient’s lower extremities. The patient’s left thigh was noted by EMS to have an obvious deformity with bleeding from an anterior wound. A tourniquet was placed to the proximal left thigh. A deformity was also noted to the right thigh without obvious external hemorrhage…

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Age Matters: Managing Femur Fractures in Kids

“In one overnight shift on the orthopedics service, our team evaluated three different pediatric patients with the same underlying injury: a femoral fracture. But, the management of all three children was different and the underlying reason for the different management: age….”

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Utilization of Ultrasound for Diagnosis of Patellar Tendon Rupture in the Emergency Department

…complained of significant superior lateral knee pain and swelling, as well as difficulty moving his leg due to pain. On exam, he had notable swelling and tenderness of the left knee, particularly along the superior aspect of the patella. After controlling his pain with intravenous medications, he was able to flex at the hip but was unable to extend his lower leg at the knee or to perform a straight leg raise….

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Emergency Department Application of J-splints to Temporize Pediatric Femur Fractures

A four-year-old female with no medical history presented to the emergency department with right leg pain and refusal to walk after falling while in her father’s arms. She was being carried by her father down a flight of outdoor concrete stairs when he slipped on black ice and her leg struck the ground. The patient refused to walk after the fall and her mother noted that her leg had been “cracking” since the accident…

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