clinical applications Flashcards
section 1 cumulative
with respect to the spinal curve, how can pathogenic curvatures arise?
congenital, disease or postural in origin
name the pathogenic curvatures we covered in class?
scoliosis, hyperkyphosis, hyperlordosis
what is scoliosis?
lateral curvature, most often in thoracic region
what is hyper kyphosis?
exaggerated thoracic curvature (hunchback)
what is hyper lordosis?
exaggerated lumbar curvature (swayback) and often the result of compensating for carrying extra abdominal weight
with respect to the vertebrae, what are the examples of the clinically correlations we covered in class?
spinal stenosis and laminectomy
what is spinal stenosis?
abnormal narrowing of vertebral foramen
what is a laminectomy?
removal of one or more of the spinal processes and their supporting lamina or pedicle
how can vertebral discs be affected clinically?
herniated disc, which compresses the spinal cord or spinal nerves
with respect to the thoracic wall, what are the ways it can be impacted clinically?
changes due to age, congenital anomalies, traumatic injuries, surgical procedures
how and what are the changes that affect the thoracic wall due to changes in age?
the costal cartilages become calcified with advance age and the xiphoid process ossifies in the early 40s and is often due to a hard lump
so we mentioned that the thoracic wall can be affected due to changes in age, what happens in particular to the individuals who have the costal cartilages that have been calcified with age?
they becomes more radiopaque and they become less resilient and so this increases a greater chance of fracture
what are the congenital anomalies that affect the thoracic wall?
complete sternal cleft, partial sternal cleft, and sternal foramen as sternal defects, pectus excavated, pectus carinatum, bifid rib, and supernumerary ribs
what is a complete sternal cleft?
can allow heart to protrude through thoracic wall (ectopic cordis)
what is a partial sternal cleft?
produces U- or V-shaped clefts in manubrium/superior sternal body and can be repaired during infancy or childhood
what is a sternal foramen?
small circular opening due to improper fusion and so this appears like a healed bullet wound in X-rays
what is pectus excavutum?
due to abnormal growth of multiple ribs and sternum (sunken chest)
what is pectus carinatum?
due to overgrowth of costal cartilages (pigeon chest)
what is bifid rib?
sternal portion of rib cleaved into two portions»_space; usually asymptomatic
what are the traumatic injuries that can affect the thoracic wall?
rib fractures, flail chest, rib dislocation, rib separation
what commonly causes rib fractures?
direct blows and the ribs can be broken anywhere, but keep note that just anterior to the costal angle, this is the weakest point
which ribs are not generally fractured?
1st and 2nd ribs because they are protected by the clavicles
what decreases the likelihood of rib fracture?
because the ribs are not connected anteriorly and this allows for more mobility decreasing the likelihood of fracture
which ribs are most commonly fractured?
ribs 7 and 10
what is flail chest?
when mulitple rib fractures allow the segment of the thoracic wall to move freely and so this is a paradoxical movement during respiration
what are the effects of a flail chest?
extremely painful and impairs ventilation and treatment usually requires hooks and wires
what is rib dislocation?
dislocation of sternocostal or interchondrial joints and manifests as a painful lump over site
what is rib separation?
dislocation of costal chondrial junction and usually tears tough fibrous covering and separated ribs move to overlap superior ribs
what are the surgical procedures done that affect the thoracic wall?
sternal biopsy, thorocotomy, median sternotomy
what is sternal biopsy?
subcutaneous position of spongy bone allows for bone marrow biopsies; uses = marrow transplants, or biopsy for metastatic cancer or blood disorders
what is a thoracotomy?
surgical entrance through thoracic wall into the pleural cavity
what the types of thoracotomy?
anterior thoracotomy, posterior thoracotomy and median thoracotomy
what is anterior thoracotomy?
entrance through the costal cartilage
what is the posterior thoracotomy?
this allows posterolateral access through the 5th-7th intercostal spaces