Orthopedics Flashcards
(117 cards)
Likely diagnosis if there is a baby with uneven gluteal folds, and physical examination of the hips shows that they can be easily dislocated posteriorly with a jerk and a “click,” and returned to normal with a “snapping.”
Developmental dysplasia of the hip
Suspect this in a kid (usually 6 y.o.) who walks with a limp, decreased hip motion, antalgic gait, and passive motion of the hip is guarded.
Legg-Calve-Perth disease (Avascular necrosis of the capital femoral epiphysis)
What to suspect in an obese boy, around age 13, complains groin (or knee) pain and limps. When they sit with the legs dangling, the sole of the foot on the affected side points toward the other foot.
On physical exam there is limited hip motion, and as the hip is flexed the
thigh goes into external rotation and cannot be rotated internally.
Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE). it’s an orthopedic emergency
Suspect this in little toddlers who have had a febrile illness and then refuse to move the hip. They hold the leg with the hip flexed, in slight abduction and external rotation, and do not let anybody try to move it passively. They have elevated sedimentation rate.
Septic hip
Suspect this in little kids who have had a febrile illness, but it shows up with severe localized pain in a bone (and no history of trauma to that bone). X-rays will not show anything for a couple of weeks. MRI gives prompt diagnosis.
Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis
Genu varum is normal in kids up to what age? Past that, what is a likely diagnosis?
Normal in kids up to 3 years old. Past that, probably Blount disease, a disturbance in the medial proximal tibial growth plate.
Genu valgus is normal in what age group?
Ages 4-8
Osgood-Schlatter disease
Osteochondrosis of the tibial tubercle. Seen in teenagers with persistent pain right over the tibial tubercle, which is aggravated by contraction of the quadriceps. Physical exam shows localized pain right over the tibial tubercle, and there is no knee swelling. Tell athletes to stop doing their sport
Conservative management for Osgood-Schlatter disease
RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation
Club foot: When it presents, description, and management
Seen at birth. Both feet are turned inward, and there is plantar flexion of the ankle, inversion of the foot, adduction of the forefoot, and internal rotation of the tibia. Plaster casts, sometimes achilles tenotomy, leg braces.
Scoliosis: usual patient, description, treatment
Adolescent girls, curvature of the spine usually to the right, use braces and possibly need surgery
Bone remodeling in children compared to adults
Remodeling occurs to an astonishing degree in children, so degrees of angulation in children that would be unacceptable in an adult is permissible in children when they are reduced and immobilized.
When a kid falls on an extended arm and hyperextends it, what is a common fracture?
Supracondylar fracture, on the humerus
How do you treat a fracture of a growth plate?
Closed reduction, if the epiphyses and growth plate are displaced laterally from the metaphysis but are in one piece (i.e., the fracture does not cross the epiphyses or growth plate and does not involve the joint). If the growth plate is in two pieces, open reduction and internal fixation will be required, for precise alignment. Otherwise, growth will occur unevenly, resulting in deformity of the extremity.
Suspect this in a young person with persistent low-grade pain for months, and have a “sunburst” pattern or “onion skinning” on X-ray
Primary malignant bone tumors: think Osteogenic Sarcoma or Ewing Sarcoma
Most common malignant bone tumor. Usually 10-25 year olds, around the knee. Shows “sunburst” pattern on X-ray.
Osteogenic sarcoma
Second most common malignant bone tumor. Usually 5-15 year olds, in diaphyses of long bones. Shows “onion skinning” on X-ray.
Ewing sarcoma
Bone tumors in humans are usually:
Metastatic from other areas
Suspect this in an old man with fatigue, anemia, and localized pain at specific places on several bones. X-rays show multiple punched-out lytic lesions. They also have Bence-Jones protein in the urine and abnormal immunoglobulins in the blood, shown by serum immunoelectrophoresis.
Multiple Myeloma
Suspect this bone cancer in a cancer with relentless growth (several months) of soft tissue mass anywhere in the body. They are firm, fixed to surrounding structures. They metastasize to lungs but not to lymph nodes.
Soft tissue sarcomas
What is closed reduction and when do you do it
Immobilization of a broken bone to let it heal. You can do a closed reduction when the fracture is not badly displaced or angulated or it can be aligned by external manipulation.
When do you have to fix a bone fracture with open reduction and internal fixation
When the fracture leaves the bone severely displaced, angulated, or unable to be aligned
Most common shoulder dislocation
Anterior dislocation of the shoulder
Fracture of the distal radius, dorsally displaced and dorsally angulated. Typically happens when old osteoporitic ladies fall with outstretched hands. Tx?
Colles fracture. Closed reduction.