Ottawa Rules/Spinal Immobilisation Quiz

The Ottawa ankle rules should not be used to clear a patient from an X-ray if the patient is intoxicated because their judgment may be impaired, leading to a potential misinterpretation of symptoms. Additionally, if the patient sustained a bump to the head during the incident, there could be a possibility of a head injury that needs to be further evaluated. Lastly, if the patient has a nerve deficit to the limb caused by a previous stroke, it may mask or alter the typical symptoms associated with ankle injuries, making it difficult to accurately assess the need for an X-ray. Therefore, all of the above reasons justify not using the Ottawa ankle rules in these cases.

We can't use the Ottawa ankle rule if an injury is greater that 7 days old.

The should be used with caution if under the age of 18. You must judge if the child is able to understand the questions and respond appropriately.

Even though Brooke is able to weight bear, she also has mid-foot pain and pain at the base of the 5th metatarsal therefore will require an X-ray.

The Ottawa ankle rules only allows us to rule out X-rays for the ankle/mid-foot area. Not the toes or heel. Immediate severe pain and an inability to weight bear could indicate a fracture so it would be a good idea to get this injury X-rayed.

Forcing a patient in this condition to be immobilised could cause more damage than it prevents. If there is a clearly severe spinal injury or the patient is unmanageable, consideration should be given as to wether additional support may be required to sedate the patient.

A patient under the age of 16 can not be cleared using the algorithm.

Jay forgot to check if the patient could bend the knee to 90 degrees.

Although Kuldip has pain directly on the patella, it is not isolated as there is also pain in the area of the knee surrounding the patella, therefore it is not significant and does not require an X-ray.

The algorithm cannot be used if there is a dangerous mechanism of injury such as a fall from a height. According to the algorithm, a fall from a height is classified as > 1 m or 5 steps. This means that if someone falls from a height greater than 1 meter or approximately 5 steps, the algorithm cannot be applied and alternative measures should be taken.

Crystals age >55 means that she should still require an X-ray, we would also need to ask if Crystal had been drinking any alcohol at the party as this could be a distracting factor.

The algorithm categorizes patients as low risk based on certain criteria. In this case, the patient who was in a minor side-impact motor vehicle collision would not be considered low risk according to the algorithm. This suggests that the algorithm considers minor rear-end collisions and delayed onset of neck pain as factors that can still classify a patient as low risk.

The correct answer is "Tingling." According to the JRCAL algorithm, abnormal neurology symptoms that should be checked in a patient include loss of sensation, numbness, burning pain, and tingling. "Pins and Needles," "Pins & Needles," and "Pins + Needles" are all synonymous phrases that describe the sensation of tingling in the body. Therefore, tingling is the appropriate term to complete the given list of symptoms.