SplintER Series: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

A 17-year-old male basketball player presents with right lateral thigh pain for the past 3 weeks. He had a collision with another player 5 weeks ago that resulted in a bruise that has since resolved. He is mildly tender over the lateral mid-thigh in the soft tissues and has a decreased knee flexion. You obtain X-rays (Figure 1). What is your suspected diagnosis? What is your initial workup in the ED? What imaging confirms the diagnosis? What is your management and disposition?

AP and lateral x-rays of the knee showing myositis ossificans

Figure 1: AP and lateral radiographs of the right femur

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By R. Conner Dixon, MD|2022-05-28T09:47:48-07:00May 9, 2022|Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical), Orthopedic, SplintER|

SplintER Series: Don’t Go Breaking My Heart

A 45-year-old man presents to the emergency department with chest pain after a high-speed motor vehicle accident where his sternum hit the steering wheel. You notice an area of ecchymosis noted over his sternum, so you decide to get a CT scan (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Case courtesy of Dr Henry Knipe, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 26332

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By Ko, MD, CAQ-SM|2021-10-04T12:42:16-07:00Oct 11, 2021|Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical), Orthopedic, SplintER|

SplintER Series: Venous Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

A 29-year-old male presents with right shoulder pain, throbbing, and swelling. He states that a bulge has appeared over his right anterior shoulder recently (Image 1). While he was doing pushups today, he began to have numbness, tingling, and weakness in his right arm. While in the waiting room, his symptoms have completely resolved.

Image 1: Bedside ultrasound of the anterior shoulder at the site of the bulge. AA=axillary artery. AV=axillary vein. Author’s image.

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By Bridget Caulkins, MD|2021-03-16T18:12:40-07:00Mar 17, 2021|Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical), Orthopedic, SplintER|