The Morel-Lavallée lesionLavalleeLavelle.

BACKGROUND

Trauma patients present to the emergency department with various injuries. Few injuries can be easily missed during the evaluation of polytrauma patients. We report one such rare injury in a trauma patient.

CASE REPORT

We report the case of a 67-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with an alleged history of trauma. He reported severe pain in the lower abdomen, right hip, and right thigh. An x-ray study did not reveal any bony injury, and an extended focused assessment with sonography in trauma was also negative. Point-of-care ultrasound of his right thigh revealed the presence of a Morel-Lavallée lesion. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Morel-Lavallée lesions are post-traumatic, closed, degloving injuries that go unnoticed in many polytrauma patients. Emergency physicians should be mindful of this lesion because delay in diagnosis can result in significant complications.