Radiology Flashcards
Cortex vs medulla of bone
Outside compact bone and inside spongy bone respectively
- medulla = darker
- cortex = Lighter
Why is medulla darker than cortex?
Medulla contains yellow marrow which is fat whereas cortex only contains bone.
- bone more radiolucent than fat.
Fracture “mimics”
Sesamoid bones
Unclosed synchondroses
Old fractures
Apophyses
Nutrient channels
Types of stress fractures
Fatigue = abnormal stress on normal bone
Insufficient = normal stress on abnormal bone
Fatigue is most common and most commonly occurs in lower leg
Distraction vs Overriding fractures
Distraction = obvious space between fracture fragments
Overriding =. Fragments overlap each other.
Describing fractures
Always describe the distal fragment in respect to the proximal fragment.
Fracture descriptions
/type of articular involvement
Complete/incomplete
of fragments
Direction of displacement (medial/lateral)
angle of displacement (medial/lateral)
Closed or open
Fracture definition
Disruption of all or part of the bone cortex
Fracture lines characteristics
Are usually black linear lines
Tend to be sharply angulated lines and can be jagged if fragments have broken off.
Accessory ossicles
Accessory ossification centers that do not fuse with the parent bone
Most common site for torus fracture in children
Distal metaphysis of the humerus
Stress fracture definition
Fractures that occurring in bone due to mismatched bone strength and chronic mechanical stress being repeatedly placed on the bone
Apophysis
Site of a tendon or ligament attachment on a bone. Often can be mistaken as a fracture on a radiograph
Lipohemathrosis
Fat-fluid level occurs when fat is on top of blood in a bursa
Almost always indicative of an intra articular fracture
Avulsion fracture
Fracture produced by the fracture fragment being pulled from the parent bone by a tendon or ligament
Fracture complications
Delayed union/ nonunion of fragments
Osteoporosis
Myositis ossicans
Vascular damage
Growth disturbance
Traumatic arthritis
Salter-Harris fractures
Epiphyseal plate fractures in children
Use SALTR to determine classification
SALTR
Slipped (1) Above (2) Lower (3) Through or transverse (4) Ruined, rammed or crushed (5)
1-5 rating (1 being best prognosis, 5 being worst)
Slipped and Above SALTR classifications
Fractures through the growth plate only and fractures most of growth plate and some metaphysis respectively.
Both good prognosis with Above being the most common fracture
Lower, Transverse and ruined SALTR classifications
Longitudinal through growth plate and some epiphysis, directly through metaphysis, epiphysis and growth plate, and complete crushing of the growth plate but no fracture.
All poor prognosis with crushing/ ruined being the worst.
reserve and proliferative zones are damaged in all three
