
Underlying bone lesion?Īssess the underlying bone. If they have pain in the joints above or below a fracture, it may well be worth getting an x-ray of that joint too. Also, check that you have imaged enough of the patient. Another fracture?Īlways finish off by checking for other fractures. If the fracture does extend to the joint, the patient will probably need to have a different treatment, and it is much more likely that they will need a surgical procedure. It is really important to determine whether the joint surface is involved by the fracture. V: Is something else going on? Joint involvement? In general, when describing a fracture, the body is assumed to be in the anatomic position and the injury is then described in terms of the distal component displacement in relation to the proximal component. Once you have an idea of where it is and what type of fracture it is, you need to be able to describe what it looks like.įracture displacement describes what has happened to the bone during the fracture. the metacarpals have a base, shaft, neck, and head. In some cases, you will use the anatomical name for a part of the bone, e.g. epiphysis: the end of the bone adjacent to the joint.metaphysis: the widening portion adjacent to the growth plate.The next thing to describe is the bone that is involved and what part of the bone is affected: Salter-Harris: fractures that involve the growth plate.greenstick: the fracture is on the convex surface.buckle: the fracture is of the concave surface.incomplete: the whole cortex is not broken.

comminuted: more than 2 parts to the fracture.oblique: an oblique line across the bone.When describing a fracture, the first thing to mention is what type of fracture it is.

What radiograph (or radiographs) are you looking at? Check the who, what, why, when, and where.
