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Dr. Hive: My daughter was thrown from a horse


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DD20 was thrown from a horse last night. She was airlifted to the closest trauma center (1.5 hours away) because after sitting up she could not move. Plus, she was disoriented and repeating questions. :confused:

 

All this and I am 12+ hours away.:sad:

 

We got the call at 10 pm last night. At 1am they were running a full body scan on her. She is ok and and was released this afternoon.

 

She has a concussion (not severe), but she "broke 3 transverse processors". Neither her sister have any knowledge of these and information on the internet seems very limited.

 

Does anyone have any ideas/experience with these? How do they heal? Will she need PT?

 

Thanks, Hive!

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Hi,

I am a R.N. She was probably given instructions to follow up with another doctor today, right? Probably a ortho doc for back, right? She needs to get that appt asap and whoever is taking her let the doctor talk to you on the phone and you can ask all the questions you need. Is she at a camp? I would come pick her up. She needs to be watched closely with that concussion and she is probably in disconfort from head and back. Not sure about the transverse processors, but probably something with the vertebrae. Ride home may not be comfortable. Sorry ya'll are going through this.

angel

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Hi,

I am a R.N. She was probably given instructions to follow up with another doctor today, right? Probably a ortho doc for back, right? She needs to get that appt asap and whoever is taking her let the doctor talk to you on the phone and you can ask all the questions you need. Is she at a camp? I would come pick her up. She needs to be watched closely with that concussion and she is probably in disconfort from head and back. Not sure about the transverse processors, but probably something with the vertebrae. Ride home may not be comfortable. Sorry ya'll are going through this.

angel

:iagree:

I am a bit shocked she was released without seeing a specialist. Those bones are very close to some pretty important nerves. She needs to be seen and closely monitored for swelling and secondary problems stemming from this.

 

I am so sorry! Send her my hugs. :grouphug:

 

If it helps my trainer, when I was younger, was a part of an international show jumping team. She actually broke her neck in a similar fashion rolling her truck and trailer. They found her up walking and disoriented. She has never really ridden again, but she is one heck of a trainer. (she rides for fun and gently, but no competitive training)

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Hi,

I am a R.N. She was probably given instructions to follow up with another doctor today, right? Probably a ortho doc for back, right? She needs to get that appt asap and whoever is taking her let the doctor talk to you on the phone and you can ask all the questions you need. Is she at a camp? I would come pick her up. She needs to be watched closely with that concussion and she is probably in disconfort from head and back. Not sure about the transverse processors, but probably something with the vertebrae. Ride home may not be comfortable. Sorry ya'll are going through this.

angel

 

Thank you for all your words of encouragement and prayers, Hive!

 

Her best friend, who she was riding with, is taking her back to her house where her sister is going to meet them to take her home. It will be a 6 hour trip to get back to their house, and 6 hours for me to get to their house from mine. Opposite directions, of course.

 

I don't have the specifics for any referrals yet (cell phones both died this morning).

She was not at a camp, but visiting her best friend who has horses. It just got spooked.

 

Yes, the Transverse Processors are the tiny bones along the spine. I have read that sometimes they never heal. Some need/get PT to help with healing. Some have pain for months while they are healing. It seems to be very mixed and confusing.

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It means she broke her back...in layman's terms.

 

Transverse process fractures are the second most common fracture in the spine. It's a fracture of the bony bits that stick out on every vertebrae of the spinal column.

 

They usually result from a severe hyperextension of the spinal column followed by a hard hit. Which is probably what happened when she was thrown from the horse and then landed on the ground.

 

They don't usually cause any instability or damage to the spinal column, so they treat them very conservatively. She most likely won't ever need surgery. A brace will help stabilize the area and promote healing. She will need PT after the breaks heal.

 

If I were you, I'd get her to an orthopedic surgeon ASAP. The ER is great for preventing death and getting people on their feet and out the door, but they don't really do anything more than that. She needs to be seen by a specialist and have her injuries evaluated more thoroughly to make sure they didn't miss anything in the ER and that the diagnosis was correct. You don't want to mess with spinal injuries...and for some odd reason, sometimes the severity of the injuries doesn't present immediately.

 

Do you know in which vertebrae the fractures occurred? It's usually L2 and L3...which can mean she twisted badly and her psoas muscle caused the fracture. There is a higher incident of abdominal injuries if this is what occurred, so she may need a CT scan to rule those out. The x-ray would not detect that.

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It means she broke her back...in layman's terms.

 

Transverse process fractures are the second most common fracture in the spine. It's a fracture of the bony bits that stick out on every vertebrae of the spinal column.

 

They usually result from a severe hyperextension of the spinal column followed by a hard hit. Which is probably what happened when she was thrown from the horse and then landed on the ground.

 

They don't usually cause any instability or damage to the spinal column, so they treat them very conservatively. She most likely won't ever need surgery. A brace will help stabilize the area and promote healing. She will need PT after the breaks heal.

 

If I were you, I'd get her to an orthopedic surgeon ASAP. The ER is great for preventing death and getting people on their feet and out the door, but they don't really do anything more than that. She needs to be seen by a specialist and have her injuries evaluated more thoroughly to make sure they didn't miss anything in the ER and that the diagnosis was correct. You don't want to mess with spinal injuries...and for some odd reason, sometimes the severity of the injuries doesn't present immediately.

 

Do you know in which vertebrae the fractures occurred? It's usually L2 and L3...which can mean she twisted badly and her psoas muscle caused the fracture. There is a higher incident of abdominal injuries if this is what occurred, so she may need a CT scan to rule those out. The x-ray would not detect that.

 

Thank you.

I will get her to a specialist for an evaluation. I also need to find out which vertebrae were fractured.

She did have a CT scan at the hospital, 2 in fact, but I don't have the paperwork in front of me.

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