Describing an x-ray Flashcards
What are the 4 rights?
Right person
Right time
Right part
Right views
What is used to ensure the right patient?
Name DOB CHI number Place taken, date and time of examination Anatomical site Side
What do we look at for bone x-rays?
Cortical outline Cancellous structure (makeup of bone) Soft tissue Joints Alignment
What part of the lumbar spine are most at risk from secondary tumours?
Pedicles usually eroded first
What are factors to consider when describing a fracture?
Mechanism of injury Skin and soft tissue Site Shape Comminution Deformity Associated injuries
What are the rules of 2 for trauma radiographs?
2 views at 90* to each other
2 joints (above and below)
2 bones
2 occasions e.g. scaphoid when may only be evident 7-14 days later
How do we describe the site of a fracture?
Side Limb Bones involved Region Articular involvement
What kind of articular involvements may there be?
Intra-articular
Dislocation/Subluxation
Ligamentous avulsion
Epiphyseal
How might the shape of a fracture be described?
Transverse
Oblique
Spiral
Complex (combination of forces)
What is the standard cause of a transverse fracture?
Direct trauma
What is the standard cause of an oblique fracture?
Bending moment of force with slight rotation
What kind of force usually causes spiral fractures?
Rotational
Fracture shears and spirals round the bone
What is comminution?
Reduction to multiple fragments
How do we describe comminution of a fracture?
Number of fragments by +, ++, +++
Butterfly comminution
Segmental (long section of a bone separated into sections)
What is the definition of deformity?
Movement of distal fragment with respect to supposedly stationary proximal fragment
