Clinical Challenge: May, 2007

The patient is a 2½-year-old female who presented after falling, unobserved, from an unknown height with tenderness and swelling around the elbow. Neurovascular exam was normal. View the x-ray taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page. Resulotion The correct diagnosis is a supracondylar fracture; note the loss of the normal angle at the distal humerus. The injury was managed …

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Clinical Challenge 2: April, 2007

The patient is a 25-year-old male who presented to urgent care after falling from a height of two stories, landing flat on his feet. He is able to ambulate, though only with pain. In addition, he complains of back pain. He is generally healthy, and no neurological deficit was found. View the x-ray taken (Figure 1) and consider what your next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.

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Clinical Challenge: March, 2007

The patient is a healthy 30-year-old male who presents with pain shortly after “twisting” his ankle while playing soccer. Pain is severe enough to prevent him from putting weight on the ankle. There are no other remarkable findings from exam or patient history. View the x-rays taken (Figure 1) and consider what your next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.

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Clinical Challenge 2 : February, 2007

A 78-year-old woman presents to your urgent care clinic with new onset palpitations that began a few hours before presentation. Upon examination, you find: Pulse is 123 Blood pressure is 152/83 The only existing issue she admits is hypertension, for which she is taking thiazides as Consider Figure 1, above, and what your possible diagnosis might be, based on the evidence available. Resolution of the case is on the next page. >!–nextpage–> Resolution The patient …

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Clinical Challenge: February, 2007

The patient is a healthy 38-year-old who presents with progressive abdominal pain. There is no fever, vom- iting, or diarrhea. Upon examination, you find: No peritoneal signs Pulse is 55 Blood pressure is 118/50 The only remarkable finding when the history is taken is that the patient had corrective heart surgery as a child. View the x-rays taken (Figure 1 and Figure 2) and consider what your next steps would be. Resolution of the case …

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Right Hip Pain on 3-year-old Girl

A 3-year-old girl presents to the urgent care center with right hip pain. She has no fever, and the parents report there was no trauma. The child has a limp and reproducible pain on external rotation of the right hip. White blood count is 11,900 with 40.7% lymphs. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is 3 mm/hour. The x-ray (Figure 1) shows fluid around the right hip joint; this finding was confirmed by ultrasound. View the …

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