Fracture not showing up on xray?

Emma fell around noon and won't bear any weight on her right leg. I took her to the ped, who sent us for xrays. The xrays are negative but she still will not put any weight at all on the right leg, and if she tries she buckles down to the floor. Anyway, the ped sent us for bloodwork to rule out any kind of infection, which I doubt she has. If she is still hurting/limping/not bearing weight on Thursday, she wants us to see the orthopedic doc. She really thought that there was a fracture, and said it will probably show up as the bone starts to calcify.

She said that toddler fractures can be so tiny that they don't always show up, and that she had that experience with her son. Xrays were neg, the ortho casted anyway, and it showed up a week later on the xray.

Anyone have this experience?

 

Becky - I broke my foot this past October and the break didn't show up on an Xray, but the doctor was sure it was there. I couldn't put weight on my foot for almost a week, and my foot swelled up to about twice it's size and turned all sorts of lovely colors. After the Xray I had an MRI done that showed a bunch of small ligament and tendon tears and hinted at a break (yes... apparently that's real medical jargon. They couldn't see the break on the MRI either, but decided it must be there). I went back for a followup Xray about six weeks later and the technician could see the break... like your doctor said, because it had started to calcify.

Good luck to you and your daughter! I hope she gets better quick.

 

Tricia, thanks for your response. Did they go ahead and cast you? The problem is that she can't really pinpoint where it hurts, she just points to her leg. I wonder what they would do in this case?? As the day wears on she is complaining more and more and is still refusing to get up at all. I really think it's broken/fractured.

 

The same thing happened when I broke my elbow--the break didn't show up until about a week later.

 

QUOTE(sharongl @ May 12 2009, 05:06 PM) [snapback]1310753[/snapback]
The same thing happened when I broke my elbow--the break didn't show up until about a week later.


Did they cast you right away Sharon, or wait until it showed up on xray?

 

Becky,
This sounds exactly like what happened to Stephanie when she was about 3. It did not definitively show up on the xray. They did go ahead and cast her for 4 weeks just to be on the safe side... She was fine within about 24 hours from the time the cast came off...
The worst part about the experience was going camping in the rain! What a mess, I can still see her running around with that pink cast on!!

 

Oh my Becky! Poor Emma! I would probably get it casted. What could it hurt? Esp. b/c she is still having so much trouble with it. I want to give her a big :hug:

 

Oh no Becky!!! What did the pedi say to give her for the pain? :hug: to you and Emma.

 

Oh no Becky! Poor Emma. It does sound like it's probably broken. I have no experience or advice, just sending :hug: 's.

 

:grouphug: :cry: I hope its not broken and she is just sore.

 

We had the same problem with Ava back in Sept. - My 15yr old was riding his bike with her and her foot got trapped in the spokes. We were sure that it was broken -they even told me that the break may show up as it healed. She had to have the leg wrapped because she had a huge laceration on it - we kept it wrapped for 4 weeks (changing the wrap often) and she would not walk on it even after the wrap was off for good - they re xrayed and still found nothing. It was 2 weeks later and she finally started to limp on it - and eventually walk on it. The way her leg looked I CANNOT believe they never found a fracture but they never did. Our pedi told us that sometimes they just don't show up on x-ray with toddlers. very frustrating!! I hope Emma is feeling better very soon!

:hug:

 

We were in a similar situation. No fracture shown so they splinted the wrist. It was fine in a couple days though.

 

My oldest DD fractured her leg back in Oct., her and my son collided in the hall way, she cried and cried, refused to put any pressure on her leg. I took her to the pedi the next day, she did an x ray. The pedi looked at the x-ray and told us there was no break. About 3 days later I get a call from another Dr, asking how my daughter was, I told him she was still refusing to walk, or put any pressure on her leg. He said that the radiologist finally looked at the x-ray and there was indeed a spiral fracture on tibia. Anyway, we saw a Orthopedist the next day, and he casted her all the way up to her upper thigh, even though the break was almost all the way down by her ankle. She was in the cast for about 5 weeks.

I felt like a terrible mom, I had been touching her leg, trying to figure out where it hurt, because we could not pinpoint anything specific. I had been trying to get her up to walk, bribe her with toys etc. When the Dr finally called I just wanted to cry.

I would definitely try and get her into to a orthopedist, to be evaluated.

Good Luck!

 

I'm not sure what to think. I dosed her with Motrin before we went outside. She sat in her chair for a good hour and wouldn't move. Then I helped her up and she started walking on it, limping, but still she is putting pressure on it. I guess we will see what happens in the morning.

Thanks for all of your stories everyone!

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ May 12 2009, 07:52 PM) [snapback]1310961[/snapback]
I'm not sure what to think. I dosed her with Motrin before we went outside. She sat in her chair for a good hour and wouldn't move. Then I helped her up and she started walking on it, limping, but still she is putting pressure on it. I guess we will see what happens in the morning.

Thanks for all of your stories everyone!


That sounds like a good sign. :hug: :hug: Poor Emma, I hope by tomorrow she is feeling even better and can put more weight on it.

:grouphug:

 

my sons foot was xrayed and the ER docs said that they didn't see anything, he cried and cried that he couldn't walk and when we got him home he didn't move...he was 3 at the time. An ortho doc called the next morning and said that there was a hairline fracture and that sometimes some docs if they aren't used to seeing a break will miss it...so from the time we left the ER then for him to get a cast was about 36 hours...

get an ortho doc to look at her xrays...good luck...

 

QUOTE
Did they cast you right away Sharon, or wait until it showed up on xray?


Actually, they put me in a sling at the ER. When the orthopedist saw the x-ray indicating it was broken, he took off the sling and told me to start moving it. But mine was only the tip of the elbow. I hope the leg is OK.

 

Hey Becky,

HERE is my recent thread about something fairly similar.

The PA at the ER said the xrays were clear, and splinted her and sent us on our way, but called when I got home and the radiologist had seen a very faint line in one of the views. Recommended we see the pedi instead of waiting to see if she improved like he initially suggested.

Called the pedi the next day so I could see if we could get in on Tuesday (I needed to arrange time off from work). Receptionist said not to come in at all and just referred me to the ortho, saving me time and a co pay. We actually got in on Monday to see him.

The ortho doc referred to it as a Toddler's Fracture. Said they were fairly common and they don't necessarily *need* to be casted to get better, but comfort wise it'd be the best thing to do.

So, poor Ellie's in an over the knee cast for a month.

Hopefully Emma's feeling better and she just twisted it.

 

A couple of my friends kids at my dd's gymnastics have broken/fractured bones recently and at the first xray for everyone, it wouldn't show up because the swelling was too bad. They went back weeks later and the xrays confirmed the breaks. They casted inbetween or at least splinted. I hope she is better tomorrow.

 

I fell on the ice back in January and ended up with a lot of pain in my arm from my shoulder into my wrist and hand. The initial x-ray in the ER didn't show anything. When I went to the ortho he said that sometimes it can take a couple of months for fractures to show up. I guess this is not uncommon, I had not ever heard this before, I always thought that once you broke something it just showed up. I hope she feels better soon.

Jen

 

QUOTE(Chillers @ May 12 2009, 08:45 PM) [snapback]1311033[/snapback]
So, poor Ellie's in an over the knee cast for a month.


Poor thing! Is she able to walk on it yet? I hope she is feeling better soon. :hug:

The ped was referring to it as being most likely a 'toddler's fracture'. I had never heard of it until I got home and Googled.

Thanks for your posts everyone. I plan on calling the ortho in the am if she is still hurting.

 

Well, she's walking on it this morning. With a slight limp, but I think she is going to be ok!

 

:clapping: That is great news!

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ May 13 2009, 05:41 AM) [snapback]1311506[/snapback]
Well, she's walking on it this morning. With a slight limp, but I think she is going to be ok!


Great news! Hopefully it's just a sprain or a strain or whatever they call a "non-break". To answer your question about my break, I was given a boot to wear for eight weeks. It was much better than a cast, but I suspect they don't do boots for little kids. I hope Emma's better soon.

 

I am so glad she is able to put more weight on it today!

 

QUOTE(idril @ May 13 2009, 05:21 PM) [snapback]1312493[/snapback]
Great news! Hopefully it's just a sprain or a strain or whatever they call a "non-break". To answer your question about my break, I was given a boot to wear for eight weeks. It was much better than a cast, but I suspect they don't do boots for little kids. I hope Emma's better soon.



I think it must be sprained/strained/bruised or something because we were outside again this afternoon and she tripped(she takes after me ) fell on that same leg, and told me that she couldn't walk. She limped quite a bit for awhile afterward and then was ok.

 

So glad to hear she is doing better today. That is great news!!!!

Jen

 

Glad she is feeling better Becky.

 

My DS fell & broke his arm when he was about 18 months. The xray @ the ER(why do these things happen on the weekend while dh is out of the country?) was not clear but they went ahead & wrapped it up. I followed up with an orthopedic the next week and he could then see that it was broken. He was only in a cast for 2 1/2 weeks ...kids heal fast & bounce right back Good luck!

 

She keeps limping off and on and complaining, so I made an appointment with the ortho today at 2pm just to be sure we aren't missing something. I will post an update when we return!

 

Good news. No cast! She was walking well enough that they didn't think she needed one. They did see a couple of faint lines that they thought could be fractures, but said that they are stable and should be fine even without casting. We have a follow-up in a couple of weeks.

 

Good to know what the problem is! Glad you don't have to deal with a cast for weeks!

 

Becky, I'm so happy she didn't need a cast! :Clap: :hug:

 

I'm so glad to hear she's is doing better Becky! I'll keep her (and you!) in my thoughts! :hug:

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ May 14 2009, 02:01 PM) [snapback]1313869[/snapback]
Good news. No cast! She was walking well enough that they didn't think she needed one. They did see a couple of faint lines that they thought could be fractures, but said that they are stable and should be fine even without casting. We have a follow-up in a couple of weeks.


:yahoo: Hope she continues to do well!!