Orthopaedics Flashcards
At what level does the spinal cord terminate
Inferior border of L1
A patient presents to A&E with :
- Lower back pain
- Bilateral sciatica
- Urinary retention
- Faecal incontinence
- Saddle parasthesia
- Sexual dysfunction
- Bilateral weakness in the legs
What is the most likely diagnosis
Cauda equina
Does cauda equina present with LMN or UMN signs
LMN - the nerves being compressed have already exited the spinal cord
Does cervical myelopathy cause UMN or LMN signs ?
- UMN
- Myelopathy involves compression of the spinal cord and therefore compression of the nerves occurs before they leave the spine.
A patient presents with nondermatomal numbness and tingling, bilateral weakness and decreased manual dexterity and gait instability
What is the most likely differential?
Cervical myelopathy
What UMN signs are sign in cervical myelopathy ?
- Hyperreflexia
- +ve Hoffmann’s sign
- Sustained clonus
- +ve Babinski
A patient presents with unilateral arm pain, numbness and tingling in a dermatomal distribution in the hand, and weakness in specific muscle groups.
What is the most likely differential ?
Cervical radiculopathy
What is the 3 step management approach to cervical radiculopathy ?
- Mobilise and analgesia
- Selective nerve root corticosteroid injections
- Surgery (decompression +/- microdisectomy).
What medications are used in back pain caused by radiculopathy ?
- Duloxetine
- Amitriptyline
Less used :
- Pregablin
- Gabapentin
A patient presents with intermittent lower back pain, buttock and leg pain and leg weakness. The symptoms are worse on standing and better on sitting. Walking uphill > downhill.
What is the most likely differential
Lumbar spine stenosis
What movements relieve pressure in lumbar spine stenosis ?
- Bending forward as it expands the spinal canal.
- Standing straight can worsen the symptoms
What is the stepwise management of lumbar spine stenosis ?
- NSAIDs and physical therapy
- Surgical laminectomy and discectomy indicated for progressive disabling pain.
what is an important differential in lumbar spine stenosis ?
Differentiating neurogenic claudication from vascular claudication
Where do cervical nerve roots exit the spine ?
- Above the bone
- A C5/6 compression would affect cervical nerve root 6 as the root comes out above
Where do thoracic and lumbar nerve roots leave the spine?
- Underneath the vertebrae
- An L4/5 compression would affect nerve root 4.
An elderly patient presents following a fall from which they were unable to get up. They are complaining of groin pain radiating to the knee. They are unable to weight bear, what is the most likley cause ?
NOF fracture
What would be seen on physical examination in a NOF fracture ?
- Shortened, abducted and externally rotated leg on affected side.
- Pain on pill rolling and axial loading.
- Unable to straight leg raise
What is an intra-capsular NOF fracture and what classification system is used for them ?
- Break in the femoral neck, within the hip joint.
- Proximal to the intertrochanteric line.
- Garden classification
what are garden type I and II NOF and how are they treated treated?
- Grade I : incomplete and non displaced
- Grade II : cpomplete and non-displaced
- Internal fixation with screws or hemiarthroplasty if unfit
what are garden type III and IV NOF and how are they managed. ?
- Grade III : partially displaced (trabeculae at an angle)
- Grade IV : full displacement (trabeculae are parallel).
Replaced (either total or hemiarthroplasty)
what is an intertrochanteric extra-capsular hip fracture?
Occurs between the greater and lesser trochanter
how is an intertrochanteric hip fracture managed ?
DHS - dynamic hip screw (sliding hip screw)
what is a subtrochanteric extra-capsular hip fracture ?
Occurs distal to lesser trochanter but proximal to shaft of femur
How is a subtrochanteric hip fracture managed (and intertrochanteric if reverse or transverse)
Intramedullary nail
what 5 cancers commonly metastasise to bone ?
BLT Ketchup Please
- Breast
- Lung
- Thyroid
- Kidney
- Prostate
what kind of blood supply does the hip receive and what blood vessels are involved ?
- Retrograde : head of femur is at risk of avascular necrosis
- Medial and lateral circumflex artery from the deep femoral artery
Give 5 RF for OA
- Increasing age
- FHx
- Trauma
- Occupation
- Obesity
What are the 4 signs of OA on X-ray
- Loss of joint space
- Osteophytes
- Subchondral cysts
- Subarticular sclerosis
When is OA diagnosed ?
- Without investigation IF :
- > 45, Joint pain and stiffness worse with activity and no morning stiffness / less than 30 minutes
what are can OA cause in the hands ?
- Bouchards nodes : PIPs
- Haberdens nodes : DIPs
- Squaring at the CMC joint
- Reduced grip
- Reduced range of motion in the fingers
what is the stepwise management of OA ?
- Lifestyle + physio
- Analgesia
- Intra-articular steroid injections
- Joint replacement
What is the stepwise analgesic management of OA?
- Paracetamol / topical NSAIDs / topical capsaicin
- Oral NSAIDs (Ibuprofen/naproxen)
- Opiates (codeine/morphine)
what is the most common causative agent of a prosthetic joint infection
- Staph aureus
what is the most common first sign of OA in the hip?
Reduction in internal rotation
what is acute compartment syndrome ?
- Trauma (fracture/crush injury) to a limb leads to an increase in pressure within the limb compartments.
- This increase in pressure causes swelling and compromises circulation leading to tissue necrosis and death.
what are the 6 P’s of compartment syndrome ?
- P : pain (disproportionate to injury).
- P : parasthesia
- P : pale
- P : Pulse present
- P : paralysis (late sign)
- P : pressure (high)
How is compartment syndrome managed ?
- Surgical fasciotomy to relieve pressure
A patient presents with extreme pain in lower limb following a RTC causing tibial fracture. He describes a deep burning pain. Foot pulses are still present but patient reports numbness in his foot. On examination, the leg looks swollen and feels ‘wood like’. The pain is worsened by foot dorsiflexion. What is the diagnosis ?
- Compartment syndrome
- Posterior compartment effected as pain worsening by dorsiflexion (stretching the muscle worsens the pain).
3 features of a colle’s fracture and what it is often caused by?
- Transverse fracture of the distal radius
- 1 inch proximal to radio-carpal joint
- Dorsal displacement and angulation
FOOSH
What other kind of fracture is often caused by a FOOSH ?
- Scaphoid fracture
Key sign of a scaphoid fracture
- Maximal tenderness over the anatomical snuffbox
Deformity seen in a Colle’s fracture
- Dorsally Displaced Distal radius -> Dinner fork Deformity
what is an important complication of a scaphoid fracture ?
-> Avascular necrosis : there is retrograde blood supply (80% of blood supply comes from dorsal carpal branch of radial artery).
What is the Weber classification used for and what does it consist of ?
- Describe fractures of the lateral malleolus (Distal fibula)
- Type A : below syndesmosis
- Type B : at level of ankle joint (syndesmosis intact or partially torn)
- Type C : above syndesmosis which may also be damaged
what are the 2 principes to fracture management ?
- Achieve mechanical alignment via close or open reduction
- Provide relative stability by fixing the bone in the correct position whilst it heals
what is the initial investigation of choice for a NOF?
AP and lateral hip X-ray
what is osteomyelitis and most common cause ?
- Infection of bone and bone marrow, usually caused by bacterial infection
- Staph aureus
- Salmonella species -> sickle cell anaemia
investigation of choice for osteomyelitis
MRI
Management of osteomyelitis
- Surgical debridement
- Flucloxacillin 6wks
- Clindamycin if penicillin -allergic
what is the primary investigation for diagnosing spinal stenosis ?
- MRI
what is meralgia parasthetica
- Mononeuropathy caused by compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve
How does meralgia parasthetica present ?
- Dysaesthesia and anaesthesia of the upper-outer thigh
- Burning / numbness / pins and needles / cold sensation
- Localised hair loss
How can the abnormal sensations experienced with meralgia paraesthetica be elicited on examination
- Extension of the hip on the affected side
How does trochanteric bursitits usually present ?
- Middle-aged man with gradual onset lateral hip pain
- Worse : activity, standing after sitting for a prolonged period and trying to sit cross legged.
What is seen on examination in trochanteric bursitits and what special tests can be used for diagnosis
- Examination : tenderness over the greater trochanter
- Pain over lateral side of hip / thigh
- Common in women aged 50-70 yrs
What is the common presentation of a meniscal tear ?
- Typically result from twisting injury
- Pain worse on straightening the knee
- Knee may ‘give way’
- Knee locking
- Tenderness along the joint line