So, my first patient of the day was supposed to be a gentleman that I evaluated yesterday who had undergone a total hip replacement. He tolerated walking well, and it should have been an easy 30 minute treatment session... Apparently my patient took it upon himself to drink 4 bottles of Brandy (I'm guessing airplane sized) and attempt to walk on his own at 1am. He fell when getting out of bed, and proceeded to break his ankle on the same side as his hip replacement. Surprisingly he did not dislocate his hip in the process. He was heavily medicated when we went to see him in the AM and slotted for surgery to internally fixate his ankle. The plan is now to re-evaluate him tomorrow.
What was supposed to be a simple total joint replacement to "get my feet wet" has definitely become a bit more complicated... I'll have to see how he is doing tomorrow, and perhaps discuss how drinking may not be the best thing to accelerate his recovery.
Maybe Acute Care is going to be more exciting than I originally thought... definitely keeps you on your toes!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment