United Kingdom
A 21-year-old female asked:
hi, 3 weeks ago i sprained my ankle. well the first doctor who saw my xrays said that i had broken it but she said it was an odd break. was put in a cast for a week. then went back to the fracture clinic and the doctor told me that no bones were broken an
2 doctor answers • 5 doctors weighed in
Dr. Susan Rhoads answered
Family Medicine 38 years experience
Incomplete question!: Your question cut off! Ask again, but you have only 150 characters, including punctuation and spaces. Reading x-rays depends on symptoms, experience, and the clinical picture and the quality of the film, as well as the amount of swelling. Docs who are not radiologists, tend to be more conservative and err on the side of caution on questionable changes that could be fractures but are iffy.
2115 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Susan Rhoads commented
Family Medicine 38 years experience
Provided original answer
Sometimes fractures are not visible for a week! So it is better, when it doubt of the x-ray findings, or based on severity of clinical picture to treat as fracture, and get follow up and so re-assessment can be done, including repeating x-rays and reviewing final x-ray reports that were reviewed after initial visit by a radiologist.
Oct 19, 2015
Dr. John Goldman answered
Rheumatology 55 years experience
Need a bone and joi: You need a bone and joint radiologist to clarify and recommend appropriate imagng to answer the question. A bone and joint radiologist is specifically trained to look at bones and joints. you may need aditional imaging liek a CT or MRI.
2115 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
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Last updated Oct 24, 2015
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