Limbs
The examination of the limbs in the secondary survey should include:
- looking for:
- bruising
- deformity
- feeling for:
- tenderness
- crepitus as bone rubs against bone
- pulses; an absent pulse, particularly when associated with pallor, paraesthesia, pain and paralysis, is likely to indicate arterial obstruction in need of urgent intervention
- moving all relevant joints to determine their range of movement
Suspicion of fracture or dislocation should initiate X-ray films of the affected bone in at least two perpendicular planes.
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