Question
I was on a cruise ship.  At a stop in Mazatlan, I tripped on a curb and landed on my knee.  The next day, I went to the doctor on the ship where they took X-rays.  He told me I had a fractured patella, and showed me the light gray line on the X-ray that he said was the fracture.  Gave me a brace and a cane, and told me to see a doctor when we got home.

The first appointment I could get when we returned home was two weeks to the day after the injury.  The Ortho doctor here took X-rays, and showed me that there was NO light gray line on my patella, and said it was not fractured.

My goodness - do fractures heal that fast?  or was one of them wrong?  I no longer use the brace or the cane, but my knee still pains me if I step "wrong" on it.

What do you make of this?

Answer
Dear Susan,

This Orthopedic Chicago Podiatrist located in West Loop 60661,Roscoe Village 60618, Ukrainian Village 60622, Elmhurst 60126 & Bartlett 60103 says..
Fractures will not heal completely in 2 weeks.Fractures begin healing themselves from the day of injury until several weeks to months, depending on the severity & location.
An x-ray is one dimensional & so a hairline fracture may be missed. X-rays ararely may have "smudges"-known as artifacts.
One of the two is wrong. Can't tell you who without both x-rays. Just ask for a copy from the ship's doc.
Hope this helps & Good Luck!
Dr George Tsatsos, Svetlana Zats, Dr Mariano Rivera, Dr Massard & Dr Kurtz
Chicago 60618 & 60622, Elmhurst 60126, Bartlett 60103 Podiatrists
Board Certified in Foot and Ankle Surgery & Orthopedics
New South Loop Location-Chicago 60661


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