I had a patient who came in last week with a very sore, very firm calf after running to respond to an emergency earlier in the day. No injury really, just pain after resting a bit that was worsening to 10/10 and a lot of swelling. Other than the swelling he looked fine really and was handling 10/10 pain like a champ. Well. I sent him to the ED because I had concerns for compartment syndrome. Turns out he had a major case of compartment syndrome and had an emergency fasciotomy the same day! He has second surgery to remove 2 fist sized blood clots the next day. He came in today for follow-up with his mom and wife and they were all so grateful for my help. Well needless to say the works of thanks lift up my soul today and the fact that I caught a gravely serious condition gave me a boost of confidence.
Monday, July 25, 2011
I got one!
I had a patient who came in last week with a very sore, very firm calf after running to respond to an emergency earlier in the day. No injury really, just pain after resting a bit that was worsening to 10/10 and a lot of swelling. Other than the swelling he looked fine really and was handling 10/10 pain like a champ. Well. I sent him to the ED because I had concerns for compartment syndrome. Turns out he had a major case of compartment syndrome and had an emergency fasciotomy the same day! He has second surgery to remove 2 fist sized blood clots the next day. He came in today for follow-up with his mom and wife and they were all so grateful for my help. Well needless to say the works of thanks lift up my soul today and the fact that I caught a gravely serious condition gave me a boost of confidence.
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5 comments:
Great catch -- congrats!
Way to be on the lookout!
Great work! I am a future PA student. I am currently 24 years old and will be attending Indiana State's PA program starting in January. Your blog has been a great boost of motivation and a great source of "the life of a PA." Thanks for the stories and knowledge!
Strong work my friend! I always have my eye out for that one.
So glad I found your blog. I'm waiting to hear back from my PA programs. It's interesting to hear from someone who recently made the shift from student to professional. Good call on the Compartment Syndrome, btw!
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