Deanehan Julia, Gallagher Rachel, Vieira Rebecca, Levy Jason
From the *Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, MD; †Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Pediatr Emerg Care. 2014 Apr;30(4):285-7. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000000113.
We present a case of a 3-year-old girl brought to the emergency department for evaluation of limp after falling off the monkey bars 1 day prior. X-rays of the entire left lower extremity were normal with no evidence of fracture, dislocation, or effusion. Point-of-care ultrasound of the left hip demonstrated a hip effusion, which prompted further imaging, ultimately revealing an occult fracture of the left proximal femoral metaphysis. This case demonstrates the ability of point-of-care ultrasound to guide the management of patients presenting to the pediatric emergency department with musculoskeletal complaints.
