What does this mean????

[lfeikert]

I had posted the other day about my DDs elbow injury on the playground and got a lot of good answers so I thought I'd try it again. We got the radiologists report and there is a fracture. We aren't seeing the orthopaedic dr. until Tuesday because they want the swelling to go down in the elbow first. I'm curious though if anyone can tell me what this means. I've tried google, but I can't understand any of the journal articles and stuff that comes up. Too complicated!!

Anyway, the report says she has a transverse supracondylar fracture of the left distal humerus. I know that the humerus is the upper bone in the arm. Other than that, I'm just wondering if you can tell from this how severe the break is or what we're dealing with. Tuesday seems so far away! So--any drs., nurses, or radiologists out there

 

[lfeikert]

anyone

 

[FreshTressa]

No doc here...but breaking up the words...

Transverse means crosswise so the fracture goes across the bone

Supra means "at an earlier place"

Condylar means the round part at the end of the bone where it meets the joint

Together I would take that to mean that it is a crosswise break in the bone just before the ball part that meets the elbow.

I found this link about fractures of the condyl (which in this case is the elbow)

It explains some of the issues.

Either way...poor kid! It must hurt. Speedy healing wishes coming her way

Check out this link

 

[Swimnoid]

Sounds like what my DD had at age 12. Hers was just teeny tiny and they didnt even put it in a cast or even limit her activities much. She was a swimmer and all he said was be careful touching the wall. It wasnt even sore for very long, just a few days.

 

[lfeikert]

I found this link about fractures of the condyl (which in this case is the elbow)

It explains some of the issues.

Either way...poor kid! It must hurt. Speedy healing wishes coming her way

Check out this link

Thanks for the link! That was very helpful. I guess it sounds like chances are good that this is a pretty minor thing and an easy break to fix. Right now it just seems like Tuesday will never come and I just want to know what we need to do to fix this!
Thanks again!!

 

[lfeikert]

Sounds like what my DD had at age 12. Hers was just teeny tiny and they didnt even put it in a cast or even limit her activities much. She was a swimmer and all he said was be careful touching the wall. It wasnt even sore for very long, just a few days.

I sincerely hope this is the case! Right now it's still VERY swollen, but she was much more peppy and more herself today. Each day seems to be better. Sleeping has been rough--I just hope (for my sake, too!) that she can sleep through the night tonight!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I hope she doesn't need pins placed in to hold the elbow together or anything. I've had that done (shattered my elbow in 4th grade gym class) and it's not really a lot of fun.

TOV

 

[golfgal]

It would be a good idea to ice her elbow too. They will take down the swelling, which is actually causing a lot of her pain right now, swelling hurts! Do they have it in a sling or anything yet? The other concern is if this effects the growth plate. Distal means away from the center of the body, so in this case, the fracture is near her elbow (duh right). I am glad you are seeing an orthopedic dr. That might make a big difference in her case. This is not a fun break to have. I had a friend in college that had this happen at the end of one school year and she was back playing volleyball for a top rated team by mid-August. She was one of the better players on the team too. Kids heal fast too.