#orthopedics

[ann-nitta]

I saw such cast in winter and it looked great. So when time for the spring adventure has come there could be only one decision - pointed down as much as possible, inward curved 45 degrees. Throughout over 25 years of casting and probably far over 200 different casts I have never had a pointed leg cast. I know why now. This is probably one of the most challenging casts I’ve ever had.

Thing is I told everybody that it’s for plus 3 weeks 😂 I’m expecting sudden healing in a week

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Fears of polio resurgence as US vaccine adviser questions need for childhood shots

Survivors say US healthcare system not ready for new cases – ‘the only thing to fix polio is the polio vaccine’

Melody Schreiber at The Guardian:

With preventable infectious diseases surging and a top US vaccines adviser saying all vaccine recommendations may be reconsidered, experts are bracing for more polio cases while survivors say the medical system is not ready for polio. “We don’t have a healthcare infrastructure to take care of a polio outbreak,” said Grace Rossow, an operating-room communications coordinator in Illinois, who has long-term health issues following a case of polio as an infant. “They don’t know how to treat it. It is a massive problem if we have a resurgence of polio.” There is no cure for polio; treatment for acute cases usually involves supportive care. Between a quarter and a half of patients develop post-polio syndrome, a lifelong condition. Yet with the advent of highly effective vaccines, doctors who have seen polio cases have become increasingly rare.

Art Caplan was one of the last Americans to get polio in the Boston outbreak in the 1950s. He was seven when his neck and legs began to develop paralysis. He spent six months living at Massachusetts general hospital on a floor devoted to children with polio. Sometimes the other children would transfer downstairs to iron lungs when they could no longer breathe on their own; sometimes they would die from their illness in the beds next to him. After months wondering whether he would be next, Caplan suddenly regained use of his legs for reasons no one has been able to fully explain. But even after his miraculous recovery, he spent years in physical therapy learning how to walk again. Now he uses a walker, as his legs have weakened again. Through the decades, he’s seen polio experts leave the field as they aged and retired.

[...] Patients with post-polio have weakening muscles and bones, which affects their ability to walk without mobility aids, and falls can easily lead to broken bones. They may develop scoliosis and other problems. They struggle with extreme joint pain, fatigue, temperature regulation, attention, and secondary complications from paralysis. In orthopedics, Allan said, surgeons would perform procedures such as tendon transfers around the hip, knee and ankle to help improve strength. Those procedures are now rarely done on ankles. Allan doesn’t know of anyone doing complex tendon transfers around the hip, he said. “That’s a lost art.” Sometimes post-polio patients develop deformities and angularities in their bones, requiring total knee or hip replacements – but those procedures are markedly more complicated given poor bone quality, and rehabilitation after surgery is much more complex with muscle weakness. The risks of falling and breaking the replacement joints are also high, Allan said.

The consequences of the normalization of anti-vaxxer attitudes are leading to fears of a polio resurgence.

[vintage-sweden]

"Testing the leg prostheses", 1959, Sweden.

[er-cryptid]

alright medical nerds--

favorite medical field

anesthesiology

cardiology / hematology / phlebotomy

dermatology

emergency medicine / trauma surgery

endocrinology / immunology / rheumatology

obstetrics / gynecology / urology

orthopedics / osteology / sports medicine

pathology

pediatrics

pharmacology

psychology / psychiatry / neurology

surgery

Voting ended onApr 1, 2025

(i can't fit every field, but i tried to add as many as i could in similar groups)

[dailylaughmania]

the absolute peak of medical education

A Bone Coming out through the skin is very bad. 💀

Honestly, forget everything you learned in anatomy class. This is the only diagnostic criteria that matters. My last two brain cells during a finals week are really just out here trying to remember the ABCs of survival.

The Hierarchy of Medical Truths:

Apple a day? Maybe.

Drink water? Probably.

A Bone Coming out through the skin is very bad. ABSOLUTELY.

If you see a bone where you shouldn't see a bone… simply don't. That's helth.

✨ Reblog if this is the only medical advice you can currently follow. ✨ Follow for more chaotic energy and top-tier memes. ✌️

[yesornopolls]

Have you ever worn orthopedic braces?

Yes

No

Voting ended onJan 5, 2025

*OrthoPEDIC, not orthoDONTIC. We’re talking about the musculoskeletal system here, not teeth.

[fundaedr]

Healing More Than Bones

Every bone I mend, every joint I restore, reminds me that healing is not just physical it’s deeply human. Behind every X-ray is someone’s father, mother, child… someone hoping to walk without pain again. I don’t just fix bones I help people stand tall, move forward, and reclaim a part of their life they thought was lost. And that will always be the most humbling part of my work.