title: [When should a patient with musculoskeletal trauma be referred to emergency ward?].
abstract: Standardized clinical examination can obviate the need for osteoarticular radiographs for trauma. This paper summarizes a number of decision rules that allow clinical exclusion of significant fracture of the cervical spine, elbow, knee or ankle, making radiographs unnecessary. These criteria were all derived from large cohort studies (Nexus, Ottawa, CCS, etc..., and have been prospectively validated. The rigorous use of these criteria in daily practice improves treatment times and costs with no adverse effect on treatment quality.
authors.affiliation: Service des urgences, CHUV, 1011 Lausanne. Adam-Scott.Feiner@chuv.ch
authors.forename: Adam-Scott
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Feiner
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Duruz
mesh_terms: D016512:Ankle Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries; D004551:Elbow Joint / Q000473:pathology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000293:injuries*; D010808:Physical Examination; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards*; D013124:Spinal Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D000092464:Elbow Injuries