Fracture description is a difficult skill to learn without much experience. Basically there is a list of things you rattle off. Some med students make the mistake of going through the normal anatomy, or walking up and pointing all over the xray as they talk... Here is my advice:
First learn the different types of fracture descriptive terms. Ie. spiral, transverse, oblique, angulation, rotation, translations, etc. The best source for this for med students is probably (that I have seen) "Essentials of Orthopaedic Surgery" by Wiesel and Delahay. Go to page 47 at the begining of the chapter on Skeletal Trauma and read the first several pages. This book is a great read for med students anyway and I highly reccomend it.
Now comes the proformance, when asked to describe an Xray, walk up, look carely at the Xray for a few seconds and take all the info you can in. Then turn to the group and describe Without Pointing, or Waving your hands.
Your presentation should include the following...
-- This is a [name the radiograph (AP, Lateral, Oblique, Cross table lateral, etc)]
-- of the [name the body part (right femur)].
-- There is an [intra vs exrtaarticular (if it is near the joint)],
-- [describe displacement (angulated -describe apex-, proximally dispaced -- describe distal segment-, rotated, distracted, translated, etc]
-- [describe the fracture type (oblique, transverse, spiral, etc) DO NOT USE NAMES at this point, wait until the end of the presentation]
-- of the [describe the location (proximal 1/3, mid shaft, distal 1/3,
metaphaseal/diaphaseal junction, tibial pleateau etc)]
-- with [describe comminution (minimal comminution, moderate comminution, etc.)].
-- It is a [Say Name or classification here]
It is impressive when it can all be done in one or two sentences (practice in your head on xrays that you are not asked to describe)
Here is an example...
"This is an AP and Lateral of the right leg. There is an shortened, apex valgus angulated, transverse fracture of the mid shaft of the right tibia with a distracted, spiral fracture of the proximal fibula. There is minimal comminution. "
-adaman
First learn the different types of fracture descriptive terms. Ie. spiral, transverse, oblique, angulation, rotation, translations, etc. The best source for this for med students is probably (that I have seen) "Essentials of Orthopaedic Surgery" by Wiesel and Delahay. Go to page 47 at the begining of the chapter on Skeletal Trauma and read the first several pages. This book is a great read for med students anyway and I highly reccomend it.
Now comes the proformance, when asked to describe an Xray, walk up, look carely at the Xray for a few seconds and take all the info you can in. Then turn to the group and describe Without Pointing, or Waving your hands.
Your presentation should include the following...
-- This is a [name the radiograph (AP, Lateral, Oblique, Cross table lateral, etc)]
-- of the [name the body part (right femur)].
-- There is an [intra vs exrtaarticular (if it is near the joint)],
-- [describe displacement (angulated -describe apex-, proximally dispaced -- describe distal segment-, rotated, distracted, translated, etc]
-- [describe the fracture type (oblique, transverse, spiral, etc) DO NOT USE NAMES at this point, wait until the end of the presentation]
-- of the [describe the location (proximal 1/3, mid shaft, distal 1/3,
metaphaseal/diaphaseal junction, tibial pleateau etc)]
-- with [describe comminution (minimal comminution, moderate comminution, etc.)].
-- It is a [Say Name or classification here]
It is impressive when it can all be done in one or two sentences (practice in your head on xrays that you are not asked to describe)
Here is an example...
"This is an AP and Lateral of the right leg. There is an shortened, apex valgus angulated, transverse fracture of the mid shaft of the right tibia with a distracted, spiral fracture of the proximal fibula. There is minimal comminution. "
-adaman