Chief Complaint: 72-year-old woman who fell on her right hip.
History: Margaret Donovan, a 72-year-old white female, was brought to the emergency room by her son-in-law after falling in her bathtub. She was previously in good health, despite leading a relatively sedentary lifestyle and having a 30-year history of cigarette smoking. The only medication she currently takes is Inderal (propranolol) for mild hypertension (high blood pressure). She fell upon entering the bathtub when her right leg slipped out from under her; she landed on her right hip. There was no trauma to her head, nor does she complain of right or left wrist pain. However, she reports severe pain in the right hip and upper thigh, and was unable to get up after her fall. An injection of oxymorphone hydrochloride (Numorphan) helped relieve her pain and she was taken to the radiology department for an X-ray of her right leg and hip.
Physical examination: The patient was alert, oriented to time, place and date, and was responding appropriately to questions despite being in considerable pain. There were no signs of trauma to the head, neck, torso, arms or left leg. The right thigh and hip were extremely tender and were immobilized by a leg splint. Heart and lung sounds were normal and abdominal sounds were reduced.
Radiology report: The X-ray of the right hip revealed a complete, comminuted, intertrochanteric fracture of the right hip. No other fractures were noted in the right leg. There were also long-term osteoporotic changes in the femur, tibia and fibula.
Surgeons performed an open reduction of Margaretâs fracture, immobilizing the bones with internal pins. ORIF is a procedure in which the broken bones are re-aligned and long, thick pins are inserted lengthwise into the bone tissue. The pins are held in place by screws drilled in from the outside of the bone.
Please Answer the Following Questions
Please answer the following questions regarding this case study.
1. Pick out at least 5 med term words from the case study and dissect them into their prefixes, suffixes and word roots â defining each.
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2. What is meant by a âcomplete, comminuted, intertrochanteric fracture of the right hip?â
Use as many medical term words as possible to answer this question:
