Table of Contents
What is an occult injury?
An occult elbow injury is when clinicians can tell from a physical exam that something has happened to the elbow, but the injury does not show up clearly on an x-ray. A bone may have been bruised or fractured, but the actual crack in the bone could be almost impossible to see.
Are occult fractures serious?
Possible complications of an occult fracture include: Chronic pain. Osteoarthritis. Death of bone because of decreased blood supply (avascular necrosis)
Does an MRI show occult fracture?
The diagnostic performance of MRI in the detection of occult fractures has been shown to be comparable [12], or better [13–17] than MDCT. Indeed, while the specificity of both CT and MRI for the diagnosis of fracture can be as high as 100% [18], the sensitivity was reported to be higher for MRI [13–16].
What is an occult fracture of the knee?
An occult fracture of the posterior lateral tibial plateau with or without an associated fracture in the lateral femoral condyle (“kissing contusion”) is a relatively frequent finding in acute ACL tears and, when present, is highly suggestive of such an associated tear.
What is occult pathology?
Occult is used in radiology to refer to pathology that cannot be seen on more or more modalities. Most commonly it is used to refer to occult fractures on plain radiography, which are easy to see on MRI.
How long does it take for an occult fracture to heal?
An occult fracture is a fracture that does not appear in x-rays but there are signs that indicate one. Healing: This injury takes approximately 6 weeks to heal. Pain: Your elbow may be swollen. Take pain killers as prescribed.
Does an occult fracture need surgery?
Often, an occult hip fracture needs surgical management.
What is an occult fracture tibia?
An occult fracture—often known as a bone contusion or bone bruising—is defined as a fracture that cannot be seen on conventional x-ray or radiographically shows subtle abnormalities which are prone to be overlooked or misdiagnosed at initial presentation.
What does occult mean medical?
Occult: Hidden. For example, occult blood in the stool is hidden from the eye but can be detected by chemical tests.
What does an occult blood test detect?
The fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is used to find blood in the feces, or stool. An FOBT finds blood in the stool that you cannot see. Blood in the stool may be a sign of colorectal cancer or another medical problem, such as an ulcer or polyps. Polyps are growths that develop on the inner wall of the colon and rectum.
What will a doctor do for a stress fracture?
To reduce the bone’s weight-bearing load until healing occurs, you might need to wear a walking boot or brace or use crutches. Although unusual, surgery is sometimes necessary to ensure complete healing of some types of stress fractures, especially those that occur in areas with a poor blood supply.
Do stress fractures need surgery?
Surgical Treatment Some stress fractures require surgery to heal properly. In most cases, this involves supporting the bones by inserting a type of internal fixation. Specialized pins, screws, and/or plates are most often used to hold the small bones of the foot and ankle together during the healing process.
What does occult mean in medical terms?
Occult means hidden. An occult fracture is one that does not appear well on an X-ray. A possible occult fracture is a suspected fracture that needs to be confirmed with other imaging tests. Occult fractures can occur because of a fall or other type of sudden (acute) injury.
What does a negative occult blood test result mean?
A low, or negative, urine occult blood test is normal and healthy, as it indicates that there is no blood in the urine.
What is occult blood in the stomach?
What is occult blood. Occult blood means that you can’t see it with the naked eye. Occult gastrointestinal bleeding may occur anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract, from the oral cavity to the anorectum 1).
What are occult fractures?
Occult fractures can occur because of a fall or other type of sudden (acute) injury. They can also occur because of repetitive injuries or normal stresses on weak bones. Fractures caused by repetitive injuries are fatigue fractures. Those that result from normal stresses on weak bones are insufficiency fractures.