Orthopaedics and Trauma Flashcards
Where do Bone cells originate from?
Mesenchymal Stemm Cells → Osteoblasts & Osteocytes
Haematopeitics stem cells → Osteoblast
What is the role of Osteoblasts?
- produces osteoid (bone matrix)
- has a massive synthetic capacity
- has a high alkaline phosphate activity
- eventually dies and becomes a bone lining cell
What is the role of Osteoclasts?
- they are on the bone ‘surface’
- Cancellous bone (Howships lacunae)
- Cortical bone (lead cutting cones)
- multi-nucleate (derived from macrophage cell line)
- they have a brush border
- increases surface area and where acid phosphatase and collagenase act to break bone down
- Integrins ‘attach’ osteoclast to bone ‘surface’
- Mechano-transducers
- the connection between the force through the bone and cell biology
What is the acronym used for an Acute handover?
ATMIST
- Age
- Time
- Mechanism
- Injuries (top to toe, know so far)
- Signs (vitals)
- Treatment
What is used to guide advanced life support?
A to E-assessment
- Airway
- Breathing
- Circulation + abdomen
- Disability
- External factors
What are the most immediate life-threatening Airway and Breathing problems?
ATOM FC
- Airway obstruction
- Tension Pneumothorax
- Open Pneumothorax
- Massive Haemothorax
- Flail chest
- Cardiac Tamponade
What is the definition of a flail segment?
Two or more adjacent ribs broken in two or more places
causes paradoxical movement of the chest when breathing
What is the pathology seen in this radiograph?
Explain the signs seen in the four classes of blood loss.
Class I: up to 750mL
Class II: 750-1500 mL
Class III: 1500-2000 mL
Class IV: > 2000mL
What Vascular problems may arise in Circulation?
- Direct arterial injury
- Occlusion of venous outflow
- i.e Compartment syndrome
What is compartment syndrome? Txt?
When veins within a fascial space occlude → increase in venous pressure and pressure within the fascial compartment
This results in the arterial supply being occluded → necrosis as tissue within the compartment are not adequately perfused
If the pressure in the compartment approaches 20-30 mmol of mercury below the diastolic it paramount to identify it as compartment syndrome
There is usually associated severe pain
Txt with a fasciotomy
What happens if there is a missed compartment syndrome?
The tissues wihtin the compartment will die → in a fixed ocontractorf the muscle which can be difficult to treat
i.e forearm
Volkman’s Ischaemic contracture
What investigations are done for a fracture?
X-ray the whole bone
above and below the break
in two views
How to describe the radiograph of a fracture
- Identify which bone
- Where in the bone is the fracture
- Intra-articular
- Epiphysis
- Physis
- Metaphysis
- Diaphysis
- What sort of bone is it
- normal (for age), pathological
How would you present a fracture?
This is a
- Displaced
- Intra-articular (where in the bone)
- Fracture (broken or not)
- Of the distal (which end is it)
- Tibia (the bone)
most important part
What are the different fracture patterns, what do they mean?
- Simple
- transvers, oblique, spiral
- Communited
- how many parts
- Displaced
- angulated, translated, burst
- length, alighnment and rotation
- Special Types
- Greenstick, avulsions
Explain the biomechanics of Bone
Anisotropic
- Strength is non-uniform
- i.e Strength in compression, Weak in bend/ torsion
- to facilitate healing bones shoude be under compression
Dynamic
- Self-repair
- Changes with age/ prolonged immobilisation
Why are long bones hollow?
- Bending strength
- proportional to the radius power force
- increase in diameter → higher relative bending strength
- “Optimise” Tissue available
- Physiological
- Bone marrow reservoir
- Medullary blood supply
What would a fracture of the femur in two places suggest about the condition of the patient and their outcome?
- lots of energy put into cause the break therefore lots of soft tissue injury/ sweeling
- higher rate of slow healing or poor healing due to the internal soft tissue damage
- higher rate of infection
What are the three basic principles of fracture management?
-
Reduce the fracture if it’s been displaced
- length, alignment and rotation
- closed vs open
-
Stabilise
- external: sling, POP, external fixator
- internal: wires, intramedullary (nails), intramedullary (plates),
- Rehabilitate
- Nothing
- Replacment
Wha are the two main ways of bone healing?
- Primary bone healing
- bone heals as if it is routine bone turnover
- when the bone fragments are perfectly aligned
- have to be completely reduced and compression is solid
- Secondary bone healing
- when there doesn’t need to be absolute alignment or bone healing
- good compression, with a little bit of movement
- this stimulates hematoma → callus → more calcium put down → forms primary then secondary bones
- process of 6-8 weeks and remodelling after is 28months up to 2 years
What is the gross anatomy of the hip joint?
What is the blood supply to the femoral head and why is this significant in hip fractuers?
The Ligamentum teres artery forsm part of the supply to the femroal head however isn’t a major supply in adults as it is in children
if there is significant soft tissue damage, reducing and fixing the hip joint but it may not be successful
30-40% chance the patient may need a replacement due to poor supply (Hemi-Arthroplasty), full arthroplasty if fit and helathy
What complications may be seen in a traumatic communited knee fracture?
- slow bone healing, due to damged soft tissue
- mal-alignment of the knee
- infection
- post traumatic artheritis








































