Orthopaedics Flashcards
How many people will be affected by back pain in their life time?
-Almost everyone at some point in their life
What is the most common cause of back pain?
-Mechanical back pain (usually in the lumbar region)
What is the most common cause of back pain in the elderly?
-Spinal cord stenosis
What is the most common cause of back pain in the younger patient?
-Disc prolapse
What are risk factors for mechanical back pain?
- Highly demanding jobs
- Prolonged standing
- Awkward lifting
- Obesity
- Psychosocial
- Work-related stress
- Family history
What are the causes of back pain?
-Mechanical
-Degenerative and age related change ie OA, osteoporosis - vertebral fractures
-Inflammatory
>RA, Psoriatic arthritis, Reactive arthritis, Gout, Ank. Spond, Sacroiliitis
-Bone disorders
>Paget’s disease, Osteoporosis, Spinal stenosis
-Immunodeficiency
>Steroids, chemotherapy, infection (HIV, TB), IVDU
-Malignancy
-Trauma
-Somatic
-NAI
Where are secondary metastases commonly from?
- The 5 Bs
- Bronchus
- Breast
- (B)Thyroid
- (B)Prostate
- (B)Kidney
What are some causes of back pain originating from outside the spinal column?
- Dissecting aortic aneurysm
- Posterior duodenal ulcer
- Nephrolithiasis
- Pyelonephritis
- PMS
What are the red flags of back pain?
- Age related: <18 or >60 with new onset back pain
- Neurological symptoms: Bowel and bladder dysfunction, Parasthesia of the legs
- Weight loss
- Clinical features of infection: Night sweats, fever
- Thoracic back pain: aortic aneurysm, trauma, poor posture, thoracic disc herniation
- Immunosuppression: Steroids, chemotherapy, HIV, IVDU
What is yellow flag back pain?
-Back pain that is exaggerated by life stressors
What are some examples of life events that may cause yellow flag back pain?
- Belief that pain and activity are harmful
- Sickness behaviour ie extended rest
- Social withdrawal
- Mood problem
- Problems at work
- Problems with compensation or time off work
- Over protective family or lack of support
- Inappropriate expectations of treatment including low expectations of active participation in treatment
What are the imaging investigations for back pain?
-Xray: >suspected fracture >myeloma >vertebral fracture (osteoporotic) >metastatic carcinoma >Paget's disease of the bone -CT: Fractures, spondyloisthesis -MRI: Soft and hard tissue. >disc lesions, nerve root compression, discitis, suspected neoplastic disease
What are the other investigations needed for back pain apart from imaging?
- Bloods: FBC, U&E, LFTs, CRP
- Urine: Bence jones protein, hydroxyproline
What will LFTs show in Paget’s disease?
-Increase in alkaline phosphatase
What is the management for mechanical back pain?
-Lifestyle advice >Exercise >Desk/chair alterations -NSAIDs -Physiotherapy
What is the management for yellow back pain?
- Reassurance
- Referral to physio/chiropracters
- Relieve life stress
What is the management for red flag back pain?
-Urgent referral to neurosurgeon or specialist orthopaedic surgeon
>Urgent MRI
What is carpal tunnel syndrome?
-Compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel causing numbness and tingling
What is the carpal tunnel formed by?
- Carpal bones
- Flexor retinaculum
What is the epidemiology of carpal tunnel?
- Incidence peaks in late 50s
- Female > male
- Obesity is a risk factor
What are genetic risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome?
- Square shaped wrist
- Short stature
- Family history
- Hereditary neuropathy
What are some secondary causes of carpal tunnel syndrome?
- Post-colles fracture
- Flexion/extension injuries of the wrist
- Space occupying lesion within the carpal tunnel
- Diabetes
- Thyroid disorders
- Menopause
- Inflammatory arthridities of the wrist
- Renal dialysis
What are some space occupying lesions that can result in carpal tunnel syndrome within the carpal tunnel space?
- Aneurysm
- Neurofibroma
- Haemangioma
- Lipoma
- Ganglions
What are some other risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome? (excluding genetics and secondary causes)
- Pregnancy
- Lactation
- Use of walking aids
- Lack of aerobic exercise
How does carpal tunnel syndrome present?
- Numbness, pain and tingling in the distribution of the median nerve
- Often worse at night
- Weakness
- +ve Phalen’s and Tinnel’s test
Investigations for carpal tunnel syndrome?
- Clinical diagnosis
- Electroneurography
- Ultrasound
What is the management for carpal tunnel syndrome?
- NSAIDs
- Night splint
- Corticosteroid injections
- Surgical decompression
- Physiotherapy (increase blood flow and therefore healing)
What is osteoarthritis?
-Clinical syndrome of joint pain accompanied by varying degrees of functional limitations and reduced quality of life
What is the most common form of arthritis?
-Osteoarthritis
Where does OA commonly affect?
- Hips
- Knees
- Small joints of hands and fingers
What is the pathology behind OA?
-Repeated trauma causes:
>localised loss of cartilage
>remodelling of adjacent bone
>has associated inflammation
Who is affected by OA?
-Older people
What are some risk factors of OA?
- Heretability (genes unknown)
- Age
- Sex
- Obesity
- High or low bone density
- Joint injury
- Occupational or recreational stresses on the joint
- Reduced muscle strength
- Joint laxity
- Joint malalignment
How does OA present?
- Joint pain that is exacerbated by movement and relieved by rest
- Advanced disease: pain at night and rest
- Joint stiffness for <30 mins in the morning
- Reduced function
- Joint swelling
- Crepitus
- Absence of systemic symptoms
- Bony swellings ie Heberdens and Bouchards
Where does OA in the knee cause pain?
-In and around the knee
Where does OA in the hip cause pain?
- Pain in the groin, anterior or lateral thigh
- Can cause referred pain in the knee or testicle of the affected side in males
Where do OA nodules commonly form and what are they called?
- Heberden’s nodes: DIPJ
- Bouchard’s nodes: PIPJ
What is needed for a clinical diagnosis of OA?
> 45 years
Activity related joint pain
Less than 30 mins morning stiffness
What are the investigations for OA?
- Clinical examination
- X ray
- MRI
- Blood tests: Normal in OA
- Joint aspiration: Exclusion of septic arthritis and gout
What are the X ray signs of OA?
- Loss of joint space
- Osteophytes
- Subchondral sclerosis
- Subchondral cysts
What is the non-pharmacological management for OA?
-Hollistic approach >function, QOL, occupation, mood, relationships, leisure activities -Weight loss -Walking aids and physio assessment -Increase exercise
What are some drug treatments for OA?
- Topical NSAIDs
- Oral NSAIDs + PPI
- Intra-articular injections
- Surgery
What is the prevention for OA?
- Weight control
- Increasing physical activity
- Avoiding injury
- Education about OA
What is a scissor gait?
-Seen in lesions of the upper motor neurones ie CP
-Extensor muscles are stronger than the flexor muscles
>Tight adductors
>Plantar flexion of the ankles
>Flexion at the knee
What is a shuffling gait?
- Seen in parkinsons
- Rigidity and bradykinesia
What is a trendelenberg gait?
- Weakness in abductor muscles and gluteus medias
- The hip moves outwards and the shoulder dips to compensate
What is a high stepping gait?
-Lesion of the common peroneal nerve
>Caused by: Compression, trauma, vasculitis, syphilis
-Diabetes
-Disc herniation
What is an ataxic gait?
-Like the patient is drunk
-Wide base
Other ataxic signs: Nystagmus, hypotonia, Dysdiadokinesia, intention tremor
What is an antalgic gait?
-Decreased standing stage on the affected leg
What is tiptoeing gait?
-Children with DDH, leg length discrepency
What is achilles tendinopathy?
-Chronic overuse of the achilles tendon
Who most commonly suffers from achilles tendinopathy?
-Active people who participate in sports that involve running or jumping
What forms the achilles tendon and where does it insert?
-Gastrocnemius and soleus forms around the mid calf and inserts onto the posterior calcaneus
What are risk factors for achilles tendinopathy??
-Activities such as: >running >jumping >dancing -Change in footwear or training surface -Poor running technique -Family history -DM -HTN -Quinolone abx
How does achilles tendinopathy present?
-Gradual onset of pain and stiffness over the tendon
>May improve with heat or gentle walking
>Worsens with strenuous activity
-Tenderness of the tendon on palpation
-Pain on active movement of the ankle joint
What investigations would you do is achilles tendinopathy was suspected? Why?
- USS
- MRI
- To differentiate between tendinopathy and partial thickness tears
What is the management for achilles tendinopathy?
- RICE
- NSAIDs
- Heel lifts
- Alteration of activities in the short term
- Stretches
What is the epidemiology of an achilles tendon rupture?
- Recreational athletes between 30s-50s
- Commonly seen in football, basketball, running, tennis
What are risk factors for achilles tendon rupture?
- Increasing age
- Chronic or recurrent achilles tendinopathy
- Systemic or injected steroids (around the achilles tendon)
- Systemic conditions ie RA, SLE
- Quinolone abx
How does an achilles tendon rupture present?
- Acute onset pain (sharp and sudden), feels like being hit in the back of the leg
- Snap may be heard
- Inability to stand on tiptoe
- Altered gait
- Localised swelling
- Simmonds test +ve
What is simmonds test?
- Test for achilles tendon rupture
- Squeezing of the calf muscle doesn’t cause the foot to move
What are some differential diagnosis of achilles tendon rupture?
- Achilles tendinopathy
- Retrocalcaneal bursitis
- Plantaris muscle injury
- Other ankle injury
- Ankle OA
- Rupture baker’s cyst
What investigations would you do for achilles rupture?
-USS or MRI
What is the conservative management for an achilles tendon rupture?
- Rest
- Pain control
- Walking boot for 2 weeks
- Weight bearing as tolerated from 4-6 weeks
- Orthosis
What is the surgical management reserved for?
- Younger more active patients
- Reduces the chances of re-rupture
What is the medical name for bunions?
-Hallux valgus
What are bunions?
-Lateral deviation of the great toe causing a valgus deformity deformity of the first metatarsoplangeal joint.
What some potential consequences of bunions
- Subluxation of the first MTP joint
- Great toe may overlap the second toe
What is the epidemiology of bunions?
- Female >Male
- Significant family history
- Bilateral
What are risk factors for bunions?
- Footwear: tight fitting, high heels
- Genetic predisposition
- Female
- Abnormalities of the foot (pes planus, hypermobility, achilles tendon contracture)
- Positional change due to neuro conditions ie stroke, CP
- Systemic conditions causing ligament laxity ie Marfan’s, RA