why can't emegency room doctors see a fracture on x-rays?

[bat42072]

my nephew who is 7 broke his foot 3 weeks ago... he accidently kicked a desk it knocked of his to nail ... it swelled so my sister took him to the er as it was a saturday... they told her it was not broke but they would treat it like it was a sprain... they didn't wrap it or anything no crutches nothing... last week he was at my house and i noticed it was still swollen so we took him to his pediatrician ... the nurse their thought it was his shoe causing it... the doctor told my sister to keep him off his foot until the specialist could see him... they carried him to the car for my sister... she had to send him to school the next day (he has athsma real bad and misses alot) she told the teacher to keep him off that foot as much as possible ... the teacher took off his shoe to look at it- like she didn't beleive my sister... said she was looking for a spider bite(like shes a doctor) he went to the specialist and its was definately broken and its already started to heal... they put a cast on it and a shoe over it because they have no crutches small enough for him.. We went and talked to his teacher_ i think it made her feel stupid when he first did it he told her his foot hurt and she told him to sit down... another time he was running a hundred and one temp. he told her he was sick and she told him to sit down... he was so sick the doctor almost put him in the hospital...

My thing is the er docs should have seen this break and a radiologist looks at it the next day ... I wonder how they missed it. I even saw it on the xray its not a small break

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Sounds like the doctors need to pay more attention, same with the teacher. You don't just look at a kid that has a 101 temp and think he's not sick; he's gonna look sick.

Emily

 

[Elf Mommy]

I have actually had students vomit in my classroom and I've sent them up to the office/clinic. The clinic takes the temperature and if there isn't one...even though the student vomited...they send the student BACK to me! I always let the student call from my classroom if that happens. HOWEVER! I often have parents tell their children that they're going to have to stay in school for the rest of the day!

Sorry...got off on a tangent there. I'm glad it was finally caught. Broken bones are nothing to sneeze at!

 

[pla725]

My brother broke both his collarbone (clavicle) and shoulder blade (scapula) in motorcycle accident. A deer hit the motorcycle. The doctor in the ER missed the shoulder blade fracture. The orthopedist went ballistic.

Better yet when I broke my arm in a playground accident the teacher thought I was just being a baby. Even my mom thought I was being baby. Turns out I had a chip and small fracture. Of course it was the end of the school year and the start of summer vacation. Here I am with a big plaster of paris cast. Not a happy camper that summer.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

My daughter had a broken arm and the school kept her all day - she told me in the afternoon that her arm was hurting..... took her to the ER, they didn't find a break, the doc said he didn't agree with the radiologist. I took her to a specialist and she had 3 breaks.....

I broke my hand and again the ER didn't find it, but then the specialist didn't either.

I also fell and broke a rib really close to my spine..... they didn't find that either......

:X

 

[naturestee]

I bet it depends on how the bone was angled for the xray, and how well it was taken.

My grandfather had a broken foot for several months and his diabetic specialist kept thinking it was vascular problems. He finally went to a regulardocter who thought to xray his foot again and waddya know, it was broken! For months without healing properly due to the diabetes (restricts blood flow to feet). You wouldn't think a docter would be so surprised to find a broken bone in an old man, bones do get fragile with age even for men. The pisser was he ended up needing an amputation when the bone got infected.:X

 

[pamnock]

An ER resident did a culture on my daughter and missed a resistant infection that she had after surgery. Her surgeon was not happy about the oversight. ssd:

Pam

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

I broke my neck in a car accident and the ER docs didn't see the break. I actually went to my normal doctor 2 weeks later as all my other injuries were healing and when he took an xray, it showed that I broke the C-2 bone, which is the axis bone. He didn't know how I was still walking around. He told me that anyone could have just tapped me on the back of the head and I could have been paralyzed or worse.

When I asked him how come the ER docs didn't pick it up, he said that since the accident was on a Sunday night, the doctor on call was probably not trained to look for such a small break. In the course of 2 weeks, however, the break became bigger because I was moving around.

Sharon

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

You are extremely lucky, Sharon. My gosh, that's just simply crazy how these things can happen. It must happen quite a bit, since you handful here have had it happen.

Sunday night, Saturday night, whatever night, no doctor should -not- know how to look for even the smallest break.

Pennie, I would be extremely upset about that! Yikes! How awful that must of been for her!

I broke a knuckle in my left ring finger last year in school. I told people that I broke it (told my mom I needed to get it x-rayed, she never took me, but she'll take my sis to the doc when she has a neck pain? yeah...) but everyone thought I was just over-thinking the injury. I'm sorry, but a sprain, or jammed finger doesn't take 10 weeks to heal. I still can't bend that knuckle as far as I can bend my right ring finger knuckle. And at times it does still hurt...probably from not healing properly due to not being supported.

Emily

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Elf Mommy wrote:

I have actually had students vomit in my classroom and I've sent them up to the office/clinic. The clinic takes the temperature and if there isn't one...even though the student vomited...they send the student BACK to me! I always let the student call from my classroom if that happens. HOWEVER! I often have parents tell their children that they're going to have to stay in school for the rest of the day!

Sorry...got off on a tangent there. I'm glad it was finally caught. Broken bones are nothing to sneeze at!

That would anger me too, Minda

Emily

 

[irishlops]

i was watching cross country tghen this tyhis idiot ran in to me full speed, and all i remember is the sky ground opain, black.

i woke up like 4 mins later and i was still there. some on helpped me up.

then i saw i busted my two knees right open, and my wrist was in real pain./..

went to teacher, you will be ok, just get themn knees fixed up,.

went to sick bay. other side of shool.

no help.

then got an ice pack for my wrist......

went to a and e.(er)

then the beep beep doctor went and worried over some knees. they put some bandages on it.

i said my wrist was agyonny. i never cry ... but i was then. and sent me home!!!!!!!!! theni some how got in to my pjs.

i was depressed, sore and pulled up tyhe bed cover to get in.

i let out the most ear pericing scream.

i swear it wass so sore.

went to er. doctor ate the face of the other on that looked at me yesterday.

broken arm.

5 broken bones in my wrist and soke fractures. over looked.

plaster of pais on for ages.

school did not copy down notes for me. (exams )failed lots. was not my fault. i could not write.

in music i was just ignored. i basiclly sat there. i only starting music this year. i have a yeart to catch up....

aand hey i have a bump on my wrist. i will get arteritus earlier. and loss the abitlly to write when im 30.

which mean drawing aswell. the only thing im good at.

thanks to the stupid teachers and thet doc.:cry1:

any way sorry to hear that

 

[bat42072]

My other nephew broke his elbow at school by falling in the gym during P.E. he is 16 and was crying the coach at first wasn't going to send him to the nurse after awhile told my nephew to go on tou cry baby... his mom was ticked off

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

When i was 15 we where playing football in my backyard on christmas day. My nephew who is only a year from me and three time taller.

Well I was slammed up against the tree and passed out dont even remember getting to the hospital. My upper right arm dont know tenicle term above my elbow below my shoulder. Was swelling They looked me over asked what happen and said she is fine took a xray and said if we find anything we will call you tomorrow.

Christmas day no one wanted to be there. We went home I could not eat or anything in to much pain. We also open presents at night so I still had to do that. The next 3 days I could not do anything. Now was alway up and about moving around alway outside finally my mom took me back to another ERTey looked at my arm which is now purple and blue all the way down. And said something is wrond 10 ex rays later I was addmitesd had surgry and was in the hospital for 3 weeks fighting a infection.

I had broken that bone in 2 place clean breaks but when I fell into the tree and piece of it had got stuck in my arm. That what was causing the real pain. And the major infection. What really sucked about it was if the first doctir had doen what he was suposed to I would of had atibiotics and a cast 4 days sooner. And not spent my christmas vaction in the Hospital. The other hospital paid for childcare while I was in the ER. Under 16 my mom had to be there I have 5 bothers and sisters. They paid for gas and my medical bills and we got a pretty good lump sum from that doctor also which went to my college.

In dec here we have light jacket weather so tackle football is a must. And its like autum here the trees are just starting to loose there leaves and such.

 

[slavetoabunny]

An ex-boss of mine fell down some steps at work and broke one leg and the other foot. The worker's comp doctor didn't catch either one and wanted to start her on physical therapy. She felt that something was still wrong and went to an orthopedic specialist. The ortho told her that if she had listened to the other doctor she would have been permanently disabled. She ended up being in a wheelchair for two months.

 

[bat42072]

my sister wouldnot have been as mad if they would have atleast wrapped it... when ever i sprain my ankles they wrap it for 1 to 2 weeks and that is what they said they were treating it for... they did give him tylenol with codine then but continued to let him use the foot... not even a note to keep him from pe and recess...hes been running around and jumping around on it ... my sister couldn't keep him off of it

 

[Elf Mommy]

Isn't it funny how something like this can open up all these memories for people? I love how topics like this bring us closer as a community.

 

[DeniseJP]

My two cents - my mom "rolled" her ankle badly and it was swollen - had xrays done and was told no break, it was a sprain.

My sister was getting married in 2 weeks and mom crammed her foot into a high heeled shoe, had a few drinks and was dancing.

She returned to the doc when it was painful another few weeks later and voila, broken foot!

When my son Benjamin rolled his ankle in gymnastics last year, the orthopaedic surgeon said he did not see a break on the xray but he said he would err on the side of caution and he treated Ben as if the ankle was broken.

My personal story is in 2003 my GSP pup Bridget ran into me - 68 lbs of high speed bird hunting dog hitting my knee did not go well... my hubby and I were far from the house in a swampy area of the yard and I felt a "pop" and a tear. The joint was unstable and I could not walk on it... I was saying a lot of naughty words... some really, really naughty ones that rhyme with "truck"...:censored2:

The ER I went to took xrays but they showed no break... and an orthopaedic surgeon was on call. Said I had a tear of the MCL (medial collateral ligament). The MRI showed a "severe" tear and I was put into an immobilizing cast for nine weeks and was seen by a physician's assistant who made the fateful claim "I have treated this type of injury for 20 years and you won't need surgery according to the surgeon."

Nine weeks later, he had me in physical therapy and I passed out when trying to balance on the bad leg. The PA yelled at me for not following HIS instructions. I was fuming and went for a second opinion to my neighbor, also a surgeon. We decided on surgery and sure enough, the MCL never reattached to the bone - it was hanging like a pull cord on a set of blinds...a few titanium anchors and more weeks of the surgeon supervising my recovery and I was almost as good as new.

I could go on about the delivery of my first son and the mess that turned out to be but the lesson I have learned is advocate for yourself and your children.

Denise

 

[Bo B Bunny]

My personal story is in 2003 my GSP pup Bridget ran into me - 68 lbs of high speed bird hunting dog hitting my knee did not go well... my hubby and I were far from the house in a swampy area of the yard and I felt a "pop" and a tear. The joint was unstable and I could not walk on it... I was saying a lot of naughty words... some really, really naughty ones that rhyme with "truck"...:censored2:

OUCH! My Aussie who weighs about that has run into me before and nearly killed me! I've been afraid she might do something like that one day! :shock: