Question

Mrs. Debbie Morgan is a 45-year-old female who works as a stocking clerk for a local home improvement store. While she was at work today a large box of metal rivets fell from a 20-ft.-high overhead shelf, striking her outstretched arm and knocking her to the ground. The ambulance personnel reported that she had lost quite a bit of blood at the accident scene and was “knocked out” when they arrived. To minimize further hemorrhage, the paramedics applied a pressure bandage to her arm.

You meet the paramedics as they bring Mrs. Morgan into the emergency room and begin to assess her for injuries. She is awake and alert, but complaining of severe left arm and back pain, plus she has a “killer headache.” To fully examine her injuries you remove four blood-soaked bandages from her arm. You notice a large open wound on her arm with what appears to be bone tissue sticking out of the skin. She also has bruises covering her left shoulder, left wrist, and lower back. To determine the extent of her injuries Mrs. Morgan undergoes several x-rays, which reveal the following:

1) fracture of the left humerus at the proximal diaphysis,

2) depressed fracture of the occipital bone,  

3) fracture of the 3rd lumbarvertebral body.

Most connective tissue, including bone, is highly vascular. Which anatomical structures in Mrs. Morgan’s compact bone house blood vessels? What sign or symptom in Mrs. Morgan’s case is directly related to disruption of these structures by her bone fractures? How is the sign or symptom related to these anatomical structures?

Answer 1