Trip to the ER

Sunday night while at work I got a page from hubby (not usual) however I was in the middle of charting for a trauma that had just come into our ER. So it took me a while to return hubby's call. When I did call him back 30 minutes later, he sounded a little stressed. He said the girls had been playing and now the middle girl is not moving her arm. Apparently big sister pulled on her arm a little too hard. She could still make a fist, feel things, had good color, but just refused to use it. So I just suggested ice, pain killers & bed. I'm sure it will be fine.

When I got home & went down to kiss the girls good night she was laying in her bed crying that she had to pee & couldn't get out of bed. When I got her out she just let her arm dangle. Poor baby. Every time I tried to move it she CRIED!!! I decided she needed to have it looked at by a doctor. We were now 4 hours + past her injury & she wasn't doing any better!

After a long drive back to work, she was in/out within 30 minutes. Now that's service!! She was diagnosed with NURSEMAID ELBOW (see below). The doctor reset her arm in the Triage room (OUCH!!!) they then put us in a room just to make sure the pain went away and daughter wanted to see all mommy's work friends. The fun of motherhood.

Nursemaid elbow is a common injury among preschool-aged children. It refers to a condition (medically called a radial head subluxation) in which a child's elbow bones get partially pulled out of joint and do not line up normally. The injury can occur innocently from swinging a young child by the arms or pulling a child's arm while in a hurry.
A temporary condition without permanent effects, it can be quite frightening to parents who find their child lacking the ability to use his or her upper arm.
Specifically, a portion of soft tissue, whose function is to hold bones together, is pulled between 2 areas of the bones that make up the elbow joint. The involved bony areas are the radial neck and head of the radius bone in the forearm and the capitellum portion of the humerus, or upper arm bone. Movement of the elbow in this condition results in pain and keeps the child from using the upper arm.
Typically, this type of injury occurs in children aged 1-4 years but has occurred in infants aged 6-12 months as well. As children grow, their bones become larger and more defined. So this injury is rarely seen in children older than 6 years.