Misdiagnosis of broken elbow

[Ibrittany13]

My 4 year old was taken to ER after a fall on the monkey bars. They x-ray his forearm. He was visibly in pain moving anything from his elbow down. The ER dr diagnosed as "nurse maids elbow" basically a dislocation. He tried a procedure in ER room to "pop" it back into place. The pain on my 4 year old was excruciating. The put on a splint and we were referred to an orthopedic surgeon when he could not get the elbow back in place. The next day at orthopedic they did X-rays up through the elbow and diagnosed a break and then put him in a long arm cast. I believe they may have done more damage in ER with misdiagnosis and procedure to put an elbow back into place that want even dislocated.

 

[cbg]

You'll need to have a medical malpractice expert say that before you have any legal recourse - not to mention that that medical malpractice expert will need to confirm that there was enough additional damage caused to warrant a lawsuit. Your "feeling" that there was additional damage done won't get you through the metal detectors at the door of the courthouse, let alone a viable suit.

 

[quincy]

My 4 year old was taken to ER after a fall on the monkey bars. They x-ray his forearm. He was visibly in pain moving anything from his elbow down. The ER dr diagnosed as "nurse maids elbow" basically a dislocation. He tried a procedure in ER room to "pop" it back into place. The pain on my 4 year old was excruciating. The put on a splint and we were referred to an orthopedic surgeon when he could not get the elbow back in place. The next day at orthopedic they did X-rays up through the elbow and diagnosed a break and then put him in a long arm cast. I believe they may have done more damage in ER with misdiagnosis and procedure to put an elbow back into place that want even dislocated.

What is the name of your state, Ibrittany13, or, if not in the US, what is the name of your country?

It is possible, certainly, that a misdiagnosis followed by an attempt to pop the elbow back in place caused additional damage to your son's arm. I don't doubt that it caused additional pain.

What I question is that, if the first ER took x-rays, the x-ray was only of the forearm. X-raying the forearm alone would be highly unusual after a fall.

If the x-ray showed the elbow to wrist (which would be typical), and the x-ray showed no break, you might have a difficult time supporting a legal action.

You could have an attorney in your area personally review the matter to see what s/he thinks.

 

[ecmst12]

It's not uncommon for a fracture to not show up on an initial x-ray due to swelling, but then be visible a few days later when the swelling subsides.