Motor vehicle accident
⚠️70-year-old female pedestrian was struck by a motor vehicle at high-speed, sustained multiple injuries including injuries to her lungs and head. She also sustained a mangled injury to her right lower extremity with what’s considered a full degloving of the extremity and multiple fractures and neurovascular injuries. Patient was taken to the operating room immediately and managed by multiple trauma surgeons for her injuries. A high above knee amputation was done. Above-the-knee amputations may be necessary for many reasons. These can include trauma to the lower leg, which results in a non-viable leg at or near the level of the knee. Below-the-knee amputation may adequately address a more distal injury. Many studies have attempted to create algorithms to help physicians decide when to reconstruct versus amputate. One of these is the Mangled Extremity Severity Score (MESS), which takes into account skeletal/soft tissue injury, limb ischemia, shock, and patient age. Case credit: @doctorfarzk
