Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Rarely, there may be cyanosis, altered level of consciousness, a hyperresonant percussion note on examination of the affected side with reduced expansion and decreased movement, pain in the epigastrium (upper abdomen), displacement of the apex beat (heart impulse), and resonant sound when tapping the sternum.
The apex beat may also be displaced by other conditions: Pleural or pulmonary diseases; Deformities of the chest wall or the thoracic vertebrae; Sometimes, the apex beat may not be palpable, either due to a thick chest wall, or conditions where the stroke volume is reduced; such as during ventricular tachycardia or shock.
Vehicle collisions and falls are common causes. A severe, sudden twist to the neck or a severe blow to the head or neck area can cause a cervical fracture. Although high energy trauma is often associated with cervical fractures in the younger population, low energy trauma is more common in the geriatric population.
The apex beat is assessed for size, amplitude, location, impulse and duration. There are specific terms to describe the sensation such as tapping, heaving and thrusting. Often the apex beat is felt diffusely over a large area, in this case the most inferior and lateral position it can be felt in should be described as well as the location of ...
Falling and colliding with other people in a contact sport can also cause this fracture. Falling causes the weight of the body to force hyperextension. In full-contact sports such as American football and Rugby, diving for the ball can lead a player to land on his head, forcing the neck into hyperextension. The further piling of players on top ...
Modern trauma care includes a step called clearing the cervical spine, ruling out spinal cord injury if the patient is fully conscious and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, displays no neurological deficits, has no pain in the middle of the neck and no other painful injuries that could distract from neck pain. [35]
A Jefferson fracture is a bone fracture of the anterior and posterior arches of the C1 vertebra, [1] though it may also appear as a three- or two-part fracture. The fracture may result from an axial load on the back of the head or hyperextension of the neck (e.g. caused by diving), causing a posterior break, and may be accompanied by a break in other parts of the cervical spine.
The differential diagnoses of Kussmaul's sign includes constrictive pericarditis, restrictive cardiomyopathy, pericardial effusion, and severe right-sided heart failure. [citation needed]