Rapid diagnosis of an ulnar fracture with portable hand-held ultrasound.
Orthopedic fractures are a common injury in operational activities, which are injuries that often occur in isolated or hostile environments. Clinical ultrasound devices have become more user-friendly and lighter, allowing them to be easily transported with forward medical teams. The bone-soft tissue interface has a very large acoustic impedance with a high reflectance that can be used to visualize breaks in contour including fractures. Herein reported is a case of an ulnar fracture that was quickly visualized in the early phase of a multisystem trauma resuscitation with a hand-held ultrasound device. The implications for operational medicine are discussed.
Kirkpatrick
Andrew W
AW
Regional Trauma Services, Foothills Medical Centre, Room 1023, 1403 29th Street NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 2T9. andrew.kirkpatrick@calgaryheathregion.ca
Brown
Ross
R
Diebel
Lawrence N
LN
Nicolaou
Sawas
S
Marshburn
Tom
T
Dulchavsky
Scott A
SA
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D014458:Ulna Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation*