AIBU to expect x-ray results (possible fracture) in less than a week?

[TaffyandTeenyTaffy]

I stubbed my toe quite badly last Wednesday pm and having suffered all weekend I decided to go along to the Drs and get it checked out this morning. (Too late for A&E as I had not injured it within the last 48hrs)

First of all I saw a nurse who said I had broken my toe but that they wouldnt do much other than strap it up. Fine. However, she wanted me to be examined by the Dr in case I needed an x-ray on my foot, which is badly bruised and swollen.

The GP sent me to the hospital for an urgent x-ray for a ?fractured metatarsal (sp), (I eventually managed to persuade the receptionist that I wanted to be seen today rather than their next available appointment on Thursday).

The radiologist told me to make an appointment with the GP in a week or so to get the results. I have to say I was a bit gob-smacked at this but when I queried it they said that they do not have Drs in the x-ray department to look at the x-rays and it had to go back to the requesting doctor ie my GP and this will take a week. The first available Drs appt is now the end of the following week.

So AIBU to think this is just bizarre - and pretty unacceptable - to send someone with a possible fractured foot away for a week or more? - I am happy to be told I am... just wanted to know what other people think.

Generally speaking, if it's broken then they will tell you to go to A&E there and then. The radiographer/radiologist would have looked at the xray whilst you were still in the department so they would have seen a fracture. They wouldn't have let you leave if it was fractured in any way. Your GP can call them and ask if there was any abnormality so you can always see your GP earlier if you need to. Nurses are not qualified to diagnose fractures.

With respect, i know that you were sent by your GP, but A&E is for people with life threatening illness.
Unfotunately, your broken toe is not life threatening, nor is it urgent in any shape or form.
Treatment would not be any different, broken or not.
Perhaps they should have sent you to the radiology dept rather than A&E as a none urgent patient.

Have to add, HUGE sympathies because this must be very very painful and very disabling, and i hope that you have good painkillers.
All the best.

Really?! I hope you are right Lady Sybil - She gave me the impression that they had not looked at it. It was because she said that they were not able to tell me whether there was any fracture (or anything about the x-ray) and that the GP would need look at it which made me feel really uneasy/unhappy about leaving it a couple of weeks. Thanks!

mrsnesbit. It's called accident and emergency. The OP followed her GP's instructions.

I broke my foot (same bone as mentioned just cant spell it) and got the results instantly. Id go to
A and E regardless.

Although I was in plaster for 2 weeks just as a precaution as actually I didnt 'need' a plaster as the break wouldnt get worse.

So yoy might find despite all the wait you wouldnt be any different anyway.

Mrs Nesbit - I was sent to a radiology department not to A&E for the x-ray - and they were x-raying for a possible broken bone in my foot - not the toe, because as you say they would not treat the toe. Thanks for the sympathy!

Seriously Taffy. They always look at them before they send the patient home. If they need to take more x-rays then they can't do this if you've left the department. The radiographer checks the film, then the radiologist will look at it again and send a report to your GP. It's possible that the radiographer can miss a small fracture but they are usually very accurate. There's not a lot they do about a broken toe though. They just strap them up.

A and E is for life threatening illness's only? Dont be daft!

Are all broken legs, arms, collar bones etc supposed to see a GP because they arent life threatening??

Mrs Nesbit - what absolute nonsense.

I came off my bike a few years ago and split my chin open - blood everywhere, glued wound a couple of hours later.

Life threatening? No. It would just have healed into a very ugly and lumpy scar.

Was I wrong to to go A&E? Of course not!!

Sorry mine was a fracture, not a break. Hense why I asked for them to take the plaster off.

OP - I once fractured my own cheekbone, I had it looked at immediately by a reluctant off duty doctor who said no harm done, you'll just look a mess for a week! Which I did

Anyway, a while after it was still incredibly painful and I eventually went to my GP who referred me to A&E for an xray (mrs nesbitt, where else would I have gone???) I had said xray and was told by the doctor on Duty that I was fine, definately not broken, off you go!

A week later I got a phone call to say it WAS broken and I needed to be referred to the local dental hospital treatment!

By the time I got there, there was nothing to be done!!

Anyway, the point of my post is to say, strap it up yourself and try rest it - not much else you can do - they obviously don't think it's broken so good luck.

Thanks Lady Sybil - that has put my mind at rest and thanks for sharing your experience White Trash - hope you are mended now.

I'll stop whinging and keep popping the painkillers!

Doctor's can't always interpret an x-ray, that's why the radiologists look at them first.

A week? Think yourself lucky. I broke my wrist in November and didn't get a definitive answer for 7 weeks - three sets of xrays and a MRI scan, by which time of course it was well on the way to healing. The consultant said not to worry as the nature of my fracture meant that they wouldn't have done very much to it anyway, maybe a cast, but as I had had a removable support fitted in minor injuries that would be sufficient.

They had nothing to say on the subject of the pain, the massive bruising (other than "ooh that's nasty") or that fact that the support was actually pushing my thumb into a position where it was making the pain much worse than it needed to be.

I understand that the rationale was that they couldn't get effective pictures for the first two weeks because of the swelling and bruising, they couldn't get effective pictures after that because of the location of the fracture and I had to wait over Xmas for the MRI appointment. However, that may be reasonable, but no-one did anything to address the pain.

You can whinge away, it sounds painful. They should make the process of reading the x-rays clearer to the patients, it was always a bug bear of mine.

A break is a fracture. There is no difference in those two terms.
The x ray would have been looked at by the radiographer (person taking the x-ray) and if there is an obvious fracture then they will notify the requesting doctor immediately. The same x-ray is then later examined by a radiologist (medical doctor) with the clinical history and reported in that context. If there is a fracture that wasn't spotted earlier it will be in the report and that gets sent to the requesting doctor.
Hope this makes sense.

I was told, when I fractured my foot that a fracture is a crack in the bone >boak< and a break is a clean break.

A clean break would most probably need a 6 week plaster. Mine didnt.

No, there's loads of different types of fracture (spiral, greenstick etc). They are rarely a clean break.

Not entirely related but hopefully someone medical-ish can answer this, in A&E, who usually reads x-rays? Last time I went a nurse read mine, which I thought wasn't their domain. Perhaps she was a nurse practitioner, can they do it?

It's usually the doctors but it depends on the policy in that hospital. The radiographers are usually helpful though, if they spot something suspicious they will put a mark on the film.

Emergency nurse practitioners work independently and will request and interpret their own Xrays. They will sometimes ask for another opinion for the tricky ones, much like the junior A+E doctors (and senior ones - and orthopods - and even consultant radiologists; as carabos has found out, radiography is more art than science at the ragged edges...)

This sounds ridiculous, we have been to a and e three times with suspected fractures recently, one was, one was a sprain and one was a dislocated toe (for which it would be ridiculous to put up with the pain for a week for something that was basically fixed in 5 minutes).
Twice members of my family have been sent for x-rays by GPs, in both cases the results were given immediately, one was a break one wasn't. It would be ridiculous again to wait a week, more damage could be done. I would complain loudly, as this is just not acceptable.

Agree with complaining loudly. if you have broke something it needs to be dealt with ASAP so it doesn't heal back wrong, also ligaments should be checked for damage.

When I broke my finger I was xrayed and given the results immediately, strapped up and sent for a follow up 3 weeks later at fracture clinic. I wasn't allowed to remove hand support for 6 weeks in total.

Ok ..... A week wait seems entirely reasonable now that I have been told that the first available appointment with the requesting gp is 18th April!!!

I have managed to get a routine appointment on 2nd April with different gp....