Fractured ankle

[PONTYGIRL]

This is my first post so apologies if i get it wrong in advance, i had an accident in my home on the 15th June at 5am. I went to my local hospital by 6am. Seen by a doctor, had xray and i was told that i had not broken my ankle, just sprained it. Doctor told me to go home, take a common over the counter pain relief and rest. My foot was in a bad way and in a lot of pain, unable to bear weight. Made appt to see a doctor privately who deals with sports injuries for Fri 19th June. Recieved a letter from my local hospital on the 19th June,asking me to contact them as the xray had been reviewed, and it was possible i had fractured my ankle. This was the case, i had fractured the LATERAL MALLEOLUS. So for 4 days i was not in plaster, and in a lot of pain. I now have a cast on and i am NoN Weight Bearing untill the 29th June. I feel very let down by the hospital and in particular very concearned that xrays are not being diagnosed correctly. I am considering a formal complaint to the trust etc, i have four children all delivered normally. This pain was as bad and for much longer, recovery is approx 8 weeks. Any suggestions folks ??

[Toothsmith]

X-rays are interpreted by people. People sometimes miss things. No-one works at 100% success rate.

I think it's encouraging that a system is in place to double (or even triple) check diagnoses, and that the hospital got back to you very quickly and you're now being treated correctly.

Whether it was a one off, or whether there is a bad radiographer there is hard to say.

I think you're entitled to an explaination, but remember they DID do the right thing in the end.

Some fractures are missed completely.

[RabbitintheHeadlights]

Unfortunately fractures can be very difficult to spot. For this reason x-rays are generally checked by both a radiographer and a doctor but even so some are missed - it can be a tiny, tiny line to spot on a screen. TBH I would have thought it unlikely that having it out of plaster for a few days would make a huge difference to the healing time as you say you weren't putting weight on it? I'd just be glad they spotted it themselves - they've obvouisly got a good checking system in place. You have my sympathy, though, as I spent four day with a fractured wrist out of plaster and wouldn't like to repeat the experience.