LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Select the appropriate stabilization and treatment procedure for the management of joint and muscle injuries.

Injuries to joints and muscles often occur together, and it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the primary injury is to a joint or to the muscles, tendons, blood vessels, or nerves near the joint. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish joint or muscle injuries from fractures. In case of doubt, always treat any injury to a bone, joint, or muscle as though it were a fracture.

In general, joint and muscle injuries may be classified under four headings: (1) dislocations, (2) sprains, (3) strains, and (4) contusions (bruises).

Dislocations
When a bone is forcibly displaced from its joint, the injury is known as a dislocation. In some cases, the bone slips back quickly into its normal position, but at other times it becomes locked in the new position and remains dislocated until it is put back into place. Dislocations are usually caused by falls or blows but occasionally by violent muscular exertion. The most frequently dislocated joints are those of the shoulder, hip, fingers, and jaw.

Adislocation is likely to bruise or tear the muscles, ligaments, blood vessels, tendons, and nerves near a joint. Rapid swelling and discoloration, loss of ability to use the joint, severe pain and muscle spasms, possible numbness and loss of pulse below the joint, and shock are characteristic symptoms of dislocations. The fact that the injured part is usually stiff and immobile, with marked deformation at the joint, will help you distinguish a dislocation from a fracture. In a fracture, there is deformity between joints rather than at joints, and there is generally a wobbly motion of the broken bone at the point of fracture.

As a general rule, you should not attempt to reduce a dislocation3/4that is, put a dislocated bone back into place3/4unless you know that a medical officer cannot be reached within 8 hours. Unskilled attempts at reduction may cause great damage to nerves and blood vessels or actually fracture the bone. Therefore, except in great emergencies, you should leave this treatment to specially trained medical personnel and concentrate your efforts on making the victim as comfortable as possible under the circumstances.

The following emergency measures will be helpful:

1. Loosen the clothing around the injured part.
2. Place the victim in the most comfortable position possible.

3. Support the injured part by means of a sling, pillows, bandages, splints, or any other device that will make the victim comfortable.

4. Treat the victim for shock.
5. Get medical help as soon as possible.
You should NEVER attempt to reduce the more serious dislocations, such as those of the hip. However, if it is probable that the victim cannot be treated by a medical officer within a reasonable time, you should make a careful effort to reduce certain

Figure 4-44.-Immobilizing a fractured pelvis.

dislocations (such as those of the jaw, finger, or shoulder) if there is no arterial or nerve involvement (pulse will be palpable and there will be no numbness below the joint). Treat all other dislocations as fractures, and evacuate the victim to a definitive care facility.

DISLOCATION OF THE JAW.-When the lower jaw is dislocated, the victim cannot speak or close the mouth. Dislocation of the jaw is usually caused by a blow to the mouth; sometimes it is caused by yawning or laughing. This type of dislocation is not always easy to reduce, and there is considerable danger that the operator's thumbs will be bitten in the process. For your own protection, wrap your thumbs with a handkerchief or bandage. While facing the victim, press your thumbs down just behind the last lower molars and, at the same time, lift the chin up with your fingers. The jaw should snap into place at once. You will have to remove your thumbs quickly to avoid being bitten. No further treatment is required, but you should warn the victim to keep the mouth closed as much as possible during the next few hours. Figure 4-45 shows the position you must assume to reduce a dislocated jaw.

DISLOCATION OF THE FINGER.-The joints of the finger are particularly susceptible to injury, and even minor injuries may result in prolonged loss of function. Great care must be used in treating any injury of the finger.

To reduce a dislocation of the finger, grasp the finger firmly and apply a steady pull in the same line as the deformity. If it does not slip into position, try it again, but if it does not go into position on the third attempt, DO NOT TRY AGAIN. In any case, and whether or not the dislocation is reduced, the finger should be strapped, slightly flexed, with an aluminum splint or with a roller gauze bandage over a tongue blade. Figure 4-46 shows how a dislocated finger can be immobilized by strapping it to a flat, wooden stick, such as a tongue depressor.

DISLOCATION OF THE SHOULDER.- Before reduction, place the victim in a supine position. After putting the heel of your foot in the victim's armpit, grasp the wrist and apply steady traction by pulling gently and increasing resistance gradually. Pull the arm in the same line as it is found. After several minutes of steady pull, flex the victim's elbow slightly. Grasp the arm below the elbow, apply traction from the point of the elbow, and gently rotate the arm into the external or outward position. If three reduction attempts fail, carry the forearm across the chest and apply a sling and swathe. An alternate method involves having the patient lie face down on an examining table with the injured arm hanging over the side. Apply prolonged, firm, gentle traction at the wrist with gentle external rotation. A water bucket with a padded handle placed in the crook of the patient's elbow may be substituted. Gradually add sand or water to the bucket to increase traction. Grasping the wrist and using the elbow as a pivot point, gently rotate the arm into the external position.