Western Journal of Emergency Medicine (Mar 2015)
Bedside Ultrasound Identification of Infectious Flexor Tenosynovitis in the Emergency Department
Abstract
Infectious flexor tenosynovitis (FTS) is a serious infection of the hand and wrist that can lead to necrosis and amputation without prompt diagnosis and surgical debridement. Despite the growing use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) by emergency physicians there is only one reported case of the use of POCUS for the diagnosis of infectious FTS in the emergency department setting. We present a case of a 58 year-old man where POCUS identified tissue necrosis and fluid along the flexor tendon sheath of the hand. Subsequent surgical pathology confirmed the diagnosis of infectious FTS. [West J Emerg Med. 2015;16(2):260–262.]
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