Musculoskeletal and Orthopaedics
Fractures, joint injury, back pain and orthopaedic emergencies.
- Fractures Classifying fractures, the neurovascular examination that must precede and follow every manipulation, open fracture emergency care, and the reduce-hold-rehabilitate framework.
- Complications of Fractures General versus local, early versus late - fat embolism, VTE, nerve-fracture associations, non-union, avascular necrosis and complex regional pain syndrome.
- Compartment Syndrome A surgical emergency diagnosed clinically: why pain on passive stretch matters more than a palpable pulse, and why fasciotomy cannot wait for imaging.
- Neck of Femur Fracture The retrograde blood supply that decides fixation versus arthroplasty, the Garden classification, and the NICE pathway from admission to the 36-hour surgical window.
- Joint Dislocation and Subluxation Shoulder, hip, elbow and patellar dislocation - mechanism, the neurovascular injury that goes with each, and why hip dislocation cannot wait.
- Soft Tissue Injury Ankle sprains and the Ottawa Ankle Rules, ACL and meniscal injury, Achilles rupture and the Simmonds-Thompson test, and why POLICE replaced RICE.
- Bursitis Olecranon, prepatellar and trochanteric bursitis, and the septic-versus-non-septic distinction that decides whether aspiration and antibiotics are needed.
- Septic Arthritis A hot, swollen joint is septic arthritis until proven otherwise: aspirating before antibiotics, the Kocher criteria in children, and why washout follows.
- Osteomyelitis Haematogenous versus contiguous spread, the Salmonella and sickle cell nuance, why MRI beats a normal X-ray, and the sequestrum that surgery must remove.
- Bone Tumours Why metastatic disease is the default diagnosis in an adult with a destructive bone lesion, and the radiographic signs and referral pathway for suspected sarcoma.
- Cauda Equina Syndrome The bladder, bowel and saddle questions to ask every patient with back pain, why a normal PR exam excludes nothing, and the emergency MRI that cannot wait.
- Lower Back Pain and Sciatica Separating non-specific back pain from radicular pain and serious spinal pathology, the NICE NG59 red flags, and why routine imaging is not recommended.
- Intervertebral Disc Prolapse Why a paracentral L4/5 disc compresses the L5 root, the root-by-root motor, sensory and reflex findings, why gabapentinoids are not used, and the indications for discectomy.
- Shoulder Pain Sorting shoulder pain by age and by whether passive movement is restricted, the cuff tests, frozen shoulder in diabetes, and why subacromial decompression is no longer offered.
- Knee Pain Sorting knee pain by age, site and mechanism, diagnosing osteoarthritis clinically under NG226, and why arthroscopy has no place in degenerative meniscal tears.
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Why thenar eminence sensation is spared and the little finger is never involved, the LOAF muscles, secondary causes worth screening for, and when to decompress rather than splint.
- Childhood Hip and Leg Disorders Age-banded causes of the limping child, DDH screening and ultrasound, the Kocher criteria, Perthes containment, and Trethowan's sign in slipped upper femoral epiphysis.
- Fracture X-ray Interpretation The rule of twos and the ABCS search pattern, describing a fracture in the standard format, Salter-Harris, and the classic misses from scaphoid to posterior shoulder dislocation.