Scaphoid Fracture

A 43 year old male presents to the emergency department with right wrist pain after falling on his outstretched right hand. You obtain an  x-ray of the wrist, which demonstrates no acute fracture or dislocation. The patient is neurovascularly intact, you decided to discharge the patient home with instructions to treat with: ice, rest, and some naproxen. 14 months later, you're being sued by this very same patient, apparently, after you saw the patient their wrist pain never got better and in fact it persisted for over 8 months before they were finally seen again at another facility. They were then referred on to hand surgery where the diagnosis of a Scaphoid Fracture with Osteonecrosis due to non-union was made.  The patient is suing you because they say you missed the fracture and now they have chronic wrist pain and limited functionality of the hand, so they're unable to make a living as a plumber, and their quality of life has dropped significantly. This is a fictional story, but very very common. Today we're going to talk about how to diagnose and how to not get burned by Scaphoid Fractures. - Our goal at Medgeeks is to help you live the life you want to live as you navigate a career in medicine. This looks different to everyone, which is why we take such a personalized approach.  Whether you want to ... Stop taking your work home Have the skillset to work autonomously Improve your work life balance ...or anything in between, we can definitely help.   We've worked with thousands since 2013 and we're confident we can help take your career and life to the next level. You can learn more about our mentorship opportunities here:   https://www.medgeeksmentorship.co/opportunities   or schedule a time to chat with our advisors here:   https://www.medgeeksmentorship.co/application   - Learn more about what we do here https://medgeeks.co/about-us - Check out our free Facebook group, where we share daily clinical pearls, advice, and practice changing updates: https://www.facebook.com/groups/medgeeks - This podcast should not be used in any legal capacity whatsoever, including but not limited to establishing standard of care in a legal sense or as a basis for expert witness testimony. No guarantee is given regarding the accuracy of any statements or opinions made on the podcast, video, or blog.