Hi,I am Dr. Gopal Goel (Orthopaedic Surgeon). I will be looking into your question and guiding you through the process. Please write your question below.
Man age 73 has Chronic heart failure. Last week he developed a pain in his right elbow. Today it is swollen to size of a baseball. They have taken xrays and show nothing broken. He had bloodwork done and all came back fine. The area swollen seems to be very warm. He has NO fever. It hurts him very bad and can only move arm about shoulder high. The doctors have given him an antibiotic to lower the swelling. What could this be?
Mon, 4 May 2015
Physical Therapist or Physiotherapist, Niraj Modi's Response
here the symptoms are right elbow pain along with swelling and the Patient age is 73. You have also explain about x ray and blood report which has come normal, now here there are couple of possibilities like it could be related to heart problem or right elbow joint infection. It's difficult to say anything without having physical examination so I am giving general guidelines. To talk about joint infection since Patient is already taking antibiotics tablet, nothing to worry about it I suggest to use cold packs frequently in daytime to have anti inflamatory effect as well to reduce swelling. You can also check once again with your orthopaedic doctor if its not becoming well in next 2 to 3 days.
If there is no fracture then I suggest to keep moving right elbow joint as far as patient can and keep it elevated with the help of pillow in day as well as night time to reduce swelling. You can also take help from physiotherapist to know how to move elbow with so much of swelling and pain. Also take advice from physio on positioning of patient as well as his affected right elbow. You can also take suggestion on how to keep crep bandage for entire right upper limb or elbow as per need to reduce swelling.
I am sure this will be helpful for patient but if its not getting all right then do visit a ortho doctor for proper evaluation and treatment. Take care
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What Could Cause Right Elbow Pain With Swelling?
here the symptoms are right elbow pain along with swelling and the Patient age is 73. You have also explain about x ray and blood report which has come normal, now here there are couple of possibilities like it could be related to heart problem or right elbow joint infection. It s difficult to say anything without having physical examination so I am giving general guidelines. To talk about joint infection since Patient is already taking antibiotics tablet, nothing to worry about it I suggest to use cold packs frequently in daytime to have anti inflamatory effect as well to reduce swelling. You can also check once again with your orthopaedic doctor if its not becoming well in next 2 to 3 days. If there is no fracture then I suggest to keep moving right elbow joint as far as patient can and keep it elevated with the help of pillow in day as well as night time to reduce swelling. You can also take help from physiotherapist to know how to move elbow with so much of swelling and pain. Also take advice from physio on positioning of patient as well as his affected right elbow. You can also take suggestion on how to keep crep bandage for entire right upper limb or elbow as per need to reduce swelling. I am sure this will be helpful for patient but if its not getting all right then do visit a ortho doctor for proper evaluation and treatment. Take care