Ortho Trauma and Fracture Management Flashcards
what is a cutting cone
a combo of osteoclasts and osteoblasts that help with bone healing when in primary stability
what is the leading cause of death and disabiltiy worldwide
trauma. life time costs of trauma is 4x that of cancer and 6x that of heart disease.
t/f there are more injury-inducing collisions due to alcohol than fatal collisions
false. alcohol impairment results in more FATAL collisions
SAMPLE history
S= symptoms
A- allergies
M= medications
P= past medical history
L= last meal eaten
E= environment – fire, electrocution, etc.
on exam, what skin, deformities, vascularities, and neuroassessments should be done

Xrays are essential and must be taken from multiple planes, as well as the joints above and below sites of injry.
if you suspect an intra-articular fracture, do a ____
if you suspect a soft tissue or ligamentous injury, do a _____
if you suspect an intra-articular fracture, do a ct scan
if you suspect a soft tissue or ligamentous injury, do a mri scan
t/f you should immobilize before imaging
trure.
after immobilizing, what must you check after?
re-check neurovascular exam
- make sure you didn’t position the foot in the cast in a way that pinches nerve or cuts off blood flow
soft tissue functions
- protects the bone
- barrier to infection
- provides blood ssupply to the bone
- powers limb for locomotion
- splinting prevents small tissue injry. good soft tissue envelope is crucial to fracture healing and overall limb function
compare the natural history of bone and soft tissue injury
bone injury is static; the extent of bony injury is known as soon as it occurs.
soft tissue injury will EVOLVE; it can get worse if you don’t stabilize it.
a fracture is what type of injury?
a soft tissue injry with a broken bone inside.

3 main steps/principles of fracture treatment
- reduce deformity; realign fracture or dislocation (closed reduction vs operative intervention)
- maintain reduction until healing occurs; (cast and internal fixation)
- rehabilitation once healed; moving as soon as possible.
indications for fracture surgery (6) (POJ PAC)
P= polytrauma
O = open fracturse J = joint mobilization P= patient mobilizatoin
A = articular fracture
C= correction of alignment
would this person need surgery?

yes. this is an articular fracture at the tistial tibia and ankle. articular fractures require surgery (POJ PAC)
Would this person need surgery

yes. this is an open fracture. open fracutres reuquire surgical intervention (POJ PAC)
a distal radius fracture is the most common UE fracture. it presents with a classic ___ ___ deformity resulting in ___ angulation
dinner fork deformity (dorsal angulation)

treatment plan of distal radius fracture
- trial of casting
- surgery if closed treatment fails.
hip fracture imaging if it was occult
MRI, CT and Bone scan
X ray is mandatory; do an AP pelvis view and compare to normal hip. also lateral view as well as joint above and below
how did this injury happen

this is an ankle fracture. the medial malleolus is fragmented from the distal end of the tibia. this was most likely caused by a pronation/external rotation injry
treatment for an ankle fracture
- reverse and splint– reverse the mechanism of injury while reducing it.
- re-check neurovascular status
- elevate, ice
type of fracture?

a lateral malleolus fracture
type of fracture?

bimalleolar ankle fracture
there is a fibular fracture and a medial mal fracture.


trimalleolar anle fracture– the medial malleolus of the right foot,the distal fibula/lateral mal and the posterior malleolus just near the calcaneous
10 steps to treatment of an open fracture
ATNIDSNXSSS
- timely antibiotics
- tetanus toxoid
- neurovascular exam
- irrigation and debridemnet– irrigate away from wound
- sterile moist dressing
- splint
- repeat neuro exam
- imaging of joint above and below
- secondary survery
- OFF TO SURGERY






