EMRad: Can’t Miss Adult Knee Injuries

Figure 1: Normal AP knee x-ray. Case courtesy of Dr Andrew Dixon, Radiopaedia.org, annotations by Stephen Villa MD.
Have you ever been working a shift at 3am and wondered, “Am I missing something? I’ll just splint and instruct the patient to follow up with their PCP in 1 week.” This is a reasonable approach, especially if you’re concerned there could be a fracture. But we can do better. Enter the “Can’t Miss” series: a series organized by body part that will help identify injuries that ideally should not be missed. This list is not meant to be a comprehensive review of each body part, but rather to highlight and improve your sensitivity for these potentially catastrophic injuries. Now: the knee.


The year 2020 has been a year of upheaval. The COVID pandemic revealed disparities in healthcare and its effects on marginalized groups such as the Black community. The pervasive effects of structural racism affect all of us, including in medical education. We cannot and must not remain silent. As we honor Juneteenth,
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unravel, the role of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment of patients with this disease has been a major focus of discussion on the news and social media. Despite the lack of good data supporting its use in the clinical setting, there have been numerous reports of individual consumption of HCQ resulting in accidental overdose and even death. It is therefore important to recognize and manage patients who may present with HCQ toxicity.