Monday, January 21, 2013

Ring

A 70 year old gentleman is struck by a car while walking across the street. Upon arrival to the trauma bay, he is tachycardic, tachypneic, hypotensive, and altered. He is in a great amount of pain around his hips, back, and lower abdomen. On examination, you note blood at the penile meatus. You obtain a plain AP X-ray:


Challenge: What's your diagnosis?

Image shown under GNU Free Documentation License.

2 comments:

Jyrvindrial said...

Open book fracture

Craig said...

yep yep!
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Ring

This is an open book pelvis fracture. Note the significant diastasis in the symphysis pubis. Pelvic ring fractures often involve two fracture locations, are associated with hemorrhage, and can cause urethral disruption (leading to blood at the meatus and a high riding prostate).

Sources: UpToDate, Wikipedia.