(Credit: slgckgc, flickr.com)
‘Pulled elbow’, or radial-head subluxation, is a common arm injury in children. It’s easy to diagnose and quick to fix but children usually wait hours in the emergency department. Researchers performed an open, cluster-randomized controlled trial of 268 cases to determine whether triage nurses in the emergency department could fix the condition, thereby freeing up valuable resources. Although nurses were able to treat this common injury 85% of the time, physicians were more effective, with a 97% success rate. Authors argue that nurses could increase their success rate with more experience.
Original research paper published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on March 24, 2014.
Names and affiliations of selected authors
Amy Lee Hewko, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta
