Articles

Articles are a collaborative effort to provide a single canonical page on all topics relevant to the practice of radiology. As such, articles are written and continuously improved upon by countless contributing members. Our dedicated editors oversee each edit for accuracy and style. Find out more about articles.

699 results found
Article

Occipital condyle fracture

Occipital condylar fractures are uncommon injuries usually resulting from high-energy blunt trauma. They are considered a specific type of basilar skull fracture, and importantly can be seen along with craniocervical dissociation. Treatment of isolated injury is generally conservative, unless t...
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Distal phalanx fracture

Distal phalanx fractures are among the most common fractures in the hand.  They represent > 50% of all phalangeal fractures and frequently involve the ungual tuft 1. They are frequently related to sports, with lesions such as the mallet finger and the Jersey finger. When associated with a crus...
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Chance fracture

Chance fractures also referred to as seatbelt fractures, are flexion-distraction type injuries of the spine that extend to involve all three spinal columns. These are unstable injuries and have a high association with intra-abdominal injuries. Pathology Mechanism Chance fracture is also known...
Article

Dorsal intercalated segment instability

Dorsal intercalated segment instability (DISI) is a form of carpal instability featuring dorsal tilt of the lunate. It occurs mainly after the disruption of the scapholunate ligament and is more often encountered than volar intercalated segment instability (VISI). Clinical presentation radial ...
Article

Volar intercalated segment instability

Volar intercalated segment instability (VISI) is a type of carpal instability featuring volar tilt of the lunate. It is less often encountered than dorsal intercalated segment instability (DISI). Clinical presentation VISI presents in most cases with nonspecific wrist pain and a "clunking" wit...
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Stress fracture

Stress fractures refer to fractures occurring in the bone due to a mismatch of bone strength and chronic mechanical stress placed upon the bone. Terminology A pathological fracture, although a type of insufficiency fracture, is a term in general reserved for fractures occurring at the site of ...
Article

Winquist and Hansen classification of femoral shaft fractures

The Winquist and Hansen classification of femoral shaft fractures is based on fracture comminution and stability. Usage The Winquist system is commonly used along with the AO/OTA classification of femoral diaphyseal fractures 4. This classification was originally used to assist (along with ot...
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AO/OTA classification of proximal tibial fractures

The AO/OTA classification is one of the most frequently used systems for classifying proximal tibial fractures or proximal tibial end segment fractures. Like other fractures, they are divided into three groups subject to the severity and complexity of the respective injury 1: type A: extraartic...
Article

Galeazzi fracture-dislocation

Galeazzi fracture-dislocations consist of a fracture of the distal part of the radius with disruption of the distal radioulnar joint. A Galeazzi-equivalent fracture is a distal radial fracture with a distal ulnar physeal fracture 2. Epidemiology Galeazzi fractures are primarily encountered in ...
Article

Floating knee

Floating knees occur when there are ipsilateral fractures of both femoral and tibial shafts. These are relatively rare injuries with reported poor outcomes. Clinical presentation The usual presentation is a combined closed midshaft femoral fracture and open midshaft tibial fracture. Vascular i...
Article

Lipohemarthrosis

Lipohemarthrosis results from an intra-articular fracture with escape of fat and blood from the bone marrow into the joint, and is most frequently seen in the knee, associated with a tibial plateau fracture or distal femoral fracture; rarely a patellar fracture. They have also been described in ...
Article

AAST kidney injury scale

The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) renal injury scale, updated in 2018, is the most widely used grading system for renal trauma. The 2018 update incorporates "vascular injury" (i.e. pseudoaneurysm, arteriovenous fistula) into the imaging criteria for visceral injury. Cla...
Article

CT thoracic spine (protocol)

The CT thoracic spine or T-spine protocol serves as an examination for the assessment of the thoracic spine. As a separate examination, it is often performed as a non-contrast study. It might be combined or simultaneously acquired with a CT chest or CT chest-abdomen-pelvis as part of a trauma or...
Article

Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) scan

Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) scan is a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) examination performed at the time of presentation of a trauma patient.  It is invariably performed by a clinician, who should be formally trained, and is considered as an 'extension' of the trauma cl...
Article

Basilar fractures of the skull

Basilar fractures of the skull, also known as base of skull or skull base fractures, are a common form of skull fracture, particularly in the setting of severe traumatic head injury, and involve the base of the skull. They may occur in isolation or often in continuity with skull vault (calvarial...
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Frykman classification of distal radial fractures

The Frykman classification of distal radial fractures is based on the AP appearance and encompasses the eponymous entities of Colles fracture, Smith fracture, Barton fracture, chauffeur fracture. It assesses the pattern of fractures, involvement of the radioulnar joint and presence of a distal u...
Article

Penetrating traumatic neck injury

Penetrating traumatic neck injury can be a potentially devastating injury due to the high density of crucial anatomical structures within the neck.  Epidemiology Young males are highly represented in patients with a traumatic neck injury. In one study, 11:1 ratio of males to females were ident...
Article

Neer classification of proximal humeral fractures

The Neer classification of proximal humeral fractures is probably the most frequently used system along with the AO classification of proximal humeral fractures. The terminology and factors which influence the classification are essential for the utility of radiology reports of proximal humeral ...
Article

Disarticulation

The term disarticulation refers to the disconnection of all or part of a limb from the body, specifically through a joint. This is in contrast to amputation, which is the disconnection or removal of the structure through a bone 1,2.
Article

Hoffa fracture

Hoffa fracture, also known as Busch-Hoffa fracture, is a type of distal condylar femoral fracture and is characterized by an associated fracture component in the coronal plane. Epidemiology While they are rare in absolute numbers, they can account for approximately 40% of intercondylar fractur...

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