Old School Orthopedics – Angola Day 10

July 13th, 2011 by INMED

Ankle Fracture

 

Abel, this young man, was riding his bicycle when he veered off the road to avoid an oncoming truck. Abel’s bike struck a embankment, throwing him head first over the handle bars. The only fortunate outcome of this accident was that Abel landed on his leg rather than his head! I’m holding up the X-ray of his ankle to the window, demonstrating a very complex fracture. In the US, Able would undergo extensive surgical repair, with a plate and multiple screws to realign the the broken bones. But we have no such hardware here at the Kalukembe Hospital in Angola. So Able will instead be wearing a cast for many weeks. And what do we have available to treat his severe pain? Nothing more than Ibuprofen.