Your patient is returning for follow-up 6 weeks after sustaining a nondisplaced fracture of his radius. He tells you that his fo
rearm is no longer painful, but he is concerned that he can palpate a "lump" in the bone at the site of the healing fracture. What is your response?a.)"I'm concerned that your bone is not healing properly. Let's ask the doctor about doing some X-rays."b.)"That lump may be a sign of infection. We need to obtain cultures from the site."c.)"The lump means that the fracture was not set properly. I'm concerned that the ends of the fracture aren't properly aligned."d.)"That bump is a normal part of bone healing at this stage. As your body completes the process, the cells in your bone will gradually remodel it to its previous shape."
The correct answer is D; "That bump is a normal part of bone healing at this stage. As your body completes the process, the cells in your bone will gradually remodel it to its previous shape."
Further Explanation:
The "lump" that is located in the bone where the bone is healing is common in breaks. When the body suffers from a broken bone, there are three phases the body goes through. The bone restructures itself and the healing begins with the process called remodeling.
The healing bone goes through three phases called;
*Inflammatory phase
*Repair phase
*Remodeling phase
The "lump" is a callous that has formed and the body will eventually heal itself and the "lump" will disappear.
