RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Low back pain is a common cause of medical consultation, and usually supposes a non-malignant prognostic. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report an atypical appearance of low back pain associated to shock and pulsatile abdominal mass that made us diagnose an abdominal aortic aneurysm as reason of vertebral lysis and pain. DISCUSION: Surgical repair of contained AAA should be directed to secondary re-rupture prevention, with an approximate survival near to 100% at selected patients for elective surgery. Consequently, orthopedic surgery for back spine stabilization has to be elective in those cases when vertebral destruction is above 30% and clinic is directly related to spine instability. CONCLUSION: We should consider AAA as other cause of low back pain and routinely examine the abdomen and seek complementary imaging proves when risk factors for AAA are present.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Fractures of the carpal bones are often difficult to diagnose and treat due to the complex bone architecture of this region. Hamate fractures, particularly body fractures, are extremely uncommon. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present a case of a coronal fracture of the hamate associated with a fracture of the base of the fourth metacarpal, which was treated by open reduction and internal fixation. DISCUSSION: Some of hamate body fractures are associated with other injuries like metacarpal fractures. Its diagnosis is difficult and requires a high clinical suspicion and a proper radiological examination. This fracture is a very rare lesion that can raise questions about their most adequate diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. CONCLUSION: After reviewing the literature, we conclude that there is a high rate of delay in the diagnosis of these lesions, probably due to their rarity and to the lack of radiological studies specifically targeting this region. Despite this, surgical treatment in its different modalities has been shown to have the best clinical and functional results.