Comments on: The Undiagnosed Broken Hip

By: Kay

Kay — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:30:24 +0000

My brother was 17 when he was in a serious car accident. He had a multitude of serious issues wrong with him… internal bleeding (he lost his spleen), collapsed lung, cracked ribs, potentially life altering brain damage (thankfully not), etc etc etc. Some of the care he received in the PICU was absolutely fantastic. Some of it less so. Despite my family’s general appreciation at the care he received, we were blown away to find that when he was finally sent home, it was with an untreated broken jaw. He had complained about jaw/face pain during his stay but he had been intubated, had an NG tube, and several facial lacerations so I guess his pain was chalked up to that.
His jaw was probably the least of his problems (although has proved to be one of the most bothersome long-term)… so we were never that bothered because there was much more serious things to pay attention to. At the same time, it still amazes me that with all of the xrays, scans, and evaluations he received.. no one ever caught it.

By: Teresa

Teresa — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:01:35 +0000

I want to know what happened to those nurses evaluating the pain she complained about? In the hospitals I have worked as a RN for many years, we always do a pain assessment when the patient complains of pain, asking for it on the scale of 0-10, what makes it worse, what makes it better, where does it hurt, type of pain, etc. This would have led to a more detailed look at what had happened and it should have been discovered during a bath if nothing else. In additon, after intervening, with backrub, heat, ice, meds, whatever, I return in about 20-30 minutes and re evaluate to make sure that my intervention had helped, if not I re intervene, and/ or contact the physcian with the complaint, and what did not help. So sorry, I believe care in hospitals is failing, and that there are more excuses for the bad care, than correcting it.

By: kristal

kristal — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:44:41 +0000

that is really sad to of happened to your mom. a good physical assessment by any oncoming nurse would have picked up any number of symptoms, little of all the pain. Mainly the rotation, possibly the decreased sensation and pulse in that leg. A broken hip can be very dangerous and she is very lucky. I have only been a nurse for 3 years and have always been taught and practice pull down the covers and take a look, no matter what they come in for.

By: airedalelover

airedalelover — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:17:11 +0000

My elderly mom was taken to the ER after a fall. After a few hours and a hip/leg xray they were going to send her home. She was in tremendous pain . Before the discharge was in place I asked the aide to help my mom go to the toilet. My mother couldn’t even STAND without extreme pain. They did some more imaging and discovered a hip fracture. She was admitted and … but that is a story for another day.

By: Undiagnosed

Undiagnosed — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:54:02 +0000

It’s just awful to hear to stories like this, I cannot imagine how life would have been. This is happening all too often and the majority of the medical profession really don’t have patiences interests at heart, they simple don’t listen.

By: Cat

Cat — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:31:46 +0000

It is so sad to hear of these experiences. Pat, I hope by the time I write this, you have been treated and are on the way to recovering. My jaw dropped when I read what happened to you. I am praying for you.
It is shocking how much this kind of thing happens. There are so many stories here; just imagine how many more are “out there.”
I don’t have the answers. I wonder if the economic pressure and the fear of litigation causes (and, sadly in some cases, perhaps ignoring people who are not socially powerful) have contributed to this neglect.
Another thing I’ve been wondering about: In my Mom’s hospital, there are many shift changes and seldom is there any continuity in care; that is, she has so many different nurses and doctors over the course of a week. I can tell when discussing particulars with them, that some are not even aware of Mom’s hip surgery (although she’s got staples from her hip half-way down her thigh). I’ve observed these professionals are harried, rushed, and undoubtedly victims of cost-cutting measures by the hospital. I know everyone is stretched thin these days. Do any of you think this is a contributing factor to these sad situations (lack of continuity in care?)
Again, bless all of you. I appreciate the support more than I can express.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:18:55 +0000

Yes I have seen this before! It is awful! I am so sorry to hear about this situation. There was an elderly female patient on our floor with an undiagnosed broken right arm for a week. Apparently the nurses were taking left arm blood pressures and the patient never complained of pain until someone tried to take a pressure on the right arm and she screamed in pain.
Another time a patient had a broken leg that was detected by the nurses aides while they were cleaning the patient they noticed it was externally rotated and notified the nurse.
I am sorry about your experience.

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:52:42 +0000

I think it is a shame that she went through so much pain before the etiology was found. And yes thing do happen! She had classic rotation of her leg,however and where I think it fell through was with the PT! I cant believe they did not notice this! And yes the elderly fall through the cracks too many times in my humble opinion!

By: pat

pat — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:19:50 +0000

I am 52 and fell at work. they took an X-ray and said all was fine. the next day they said (ER) I needed an MRI and found out I broke my hip. (I work in a hospital)…

I was called to be admitted in hospital and told they can’t fix my hip the way I broke it. So back at home in so much pain, it’s horrible. I’m waiting for workmen’s comp to send paperswork to orthopedic surgeon..who won’t see me until they get the paperwork. I’m sitting here today and sneezed and heard my hip crack. I should be in the hospital, not sitting at home waiting.. unreal.

By: Cat

Cat — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:28:52 +0000

I appreciate the insightful and compassionate responses. And I do understand the need for caution and balance when treating pain–as too much might supress breathing, etc. I finally obtained a consult with the pain service at the hospital. The pain doctor thought most MDs don’t get a lot of training in pain management, learn it on the job, and then get stuck in a certain prescribing habit so that individual situations are sometimes not taken into account. The pain issue has been very stressful. But worse has been knowing that Mom had a horrible hip fracture that wasn’t caught. I’m wondering how this could prevented in the future? I do wonder if older people “fall through the cracks” sometimes. After the pain service consult, the doctors have put Mom on a Phentenol patch and are titrating it up every couple of days. She is finally able to be somewhat comfortable, unless they are moving her around. Still, it gives us hope that she will be able to tolerate physical therapy to see if she can regain some mobility.
Bless you all for the work you do, for your compassion and care. Thank you for your thoughtful answers and for taking the time to help. Wish I could give each one of you a rose. (Or better yet, a big, fat pay raise–I’m sure you deserve it!) Love, Cat