To ask for a xray

[Frazzledmummy123]

My 6 year old daughter fell off a climbing. frame 5 weeks ago and broke her ankle (hairline fracture). We had her appointment yesterday, first since the follow up appointment to the a&e visit 4 weeks ago.

They took her plaster off as soon as we arrived, then saw a doctor for a few minutes who said to her before she had even looked at it "are you happy that's you all better?". She asked her to wiggle her toes (which she has been able to do throug
hout her injury), and lift her foot up which she managed only just.

I don't expect her to be running around, as I know her ankle will be weak and still tender, however my daughter os crying in pain putting any weight at all on it and I don't know what to think. I am shocked at how blase they were yesterday, and how they didn't even examine it.

Should I ask for it to be xrayed?

My initial thought is she’s scared of walking on it. After 5 weeks any injury will be healed so an x ray wont show much.

You can ask for one but you're unlikely to get one unless it's clinically justified. An x-ray referral is a legal document with which both the clinician and the radiographer need to be satisfied that it is necessary.
I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's injury though and hope she recovers quickly

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for them to examine it and look further into what's going on. I don't know if they'll do an x-ray though.

They also don’t x ray children unnecessarily due to the radiation. I would give her some time, see how she goes and give her some pain relief. Keep her distracted and see if she moves.

But she's had an X ray and you know she broke it? Why would you X ray the same bit again?

Thank you everyone. I guess I just expexted a more thorough check it was better. I am going to give her until Monday and then if still same, I'll ask for an examination.

Sorry, I meant if there is no improvement at all by Monday I'll ask for an examination.

I've recently broken my shoulder....i had xrays along the way to see how it had responded to treatment. Ok I'm an adult and I had surgery but the principle is the same. How else could you assess the response to treatment?

@Spidey66

I've recently broken my shoulder....i had xrays along the way to see how it had responded to treatment. Ok I'm an adult and I had surgery but the principle is the same. How else could you assess the response to treatment?

By clinical return to function and knowledge of the evidence base It's very unlikely that a hairline fracture in a child hasn't healed by 5 weeks.

Her crying in pain is also unlikely by this stage - chances are it's simply weakness and anxiety

She will be terrified with plaster being took off. Each time I have had to practise movement and using the broken appendage (lots of broken bones on our house 🤦‍♀️) with the kids. The muscles are sore from not being used too.

It depends on the type of fracture. A hairline fracture will be undisplaced, no likelihood of it moving or changing alignment so after 5 weeks immobilisation it will be healed and she is probably nervous to put it down, at 6 her bones are soft and malleable and heal easily. Think of a craze line in a china cup,you can still use it but see the line.

@Spidey66 as an adult your bones are more calcified, when they break the fragments are sharper and less likely to be aligned, so your bone is like a china cup that has broken completely into pieces and we want the pieces to go back together but they don't so easily. Shoulder fractures can be very difficult to heal, particularly as we get older because it's hard to immobilise completely. Everytime you move you're likely to change the position of those bones.

Op your dd won't need another X-ray if these is confident the bones will have healed. We don't x-ray "just to see" because that would be an unnecessary radiation dose. Obviously I haven't seen your dds x-ray but the fact they have done no more is reassuring that there is no likelihood of her suffering further complications. It should have been explained to you though.

@Spidey66 needed regular x-rays as their fracture was of a very different type with more potential for complications.

Children need quite different treatment to adults, they're not comparable, their bodies are not smaller versions of adults they're completely different in make up and require different treatment.

It could be muscle pain, it's likely to be stiff from being in a cast. Try a soak in a hot path and gentle movements in the water.