Medical reporting in media pisses me off

[George K]

Regarding Tiger Woods.

"He has compound fractures."

No, a "compound fracture" doesn't mean "many pieces."

That's a "comminuted fracture."

It also doesn't mean "really bad."

A "compound fracture," by definition is a fracture where the fracture has penetrated the skin. IOW, there's bone sticking out, or there was bone sticking out.

Then, "He's in the ER room."

Um....the "R" in "ER" stands for "room."

[taiwan_girl]

@george-k said in Medical reporting in media pisses me off:

Then, "He's in the ER room."
Um....the "R" in "ER" stands for "room."

On kind of the same thing, when I hear "convicted felon".

If you are a felon, that means you are already convicted, right?

[George K]

By the way, I have no knowledge of whether Woods' fractures were comminuted or compound.

It is certainly possible they were compound.

A true compound fracture is a legit emergency (as in, middle-of-the-night emergency). A comminuted fracture is a "I'll get it done after office hours" emergency.

[Copper]

Your journalism here probably pisses off the media.

[LuFins Dad]

@George-K The way it was originally reported was a compound fracture in each leg, hence compound fractures.

[George K]

@lufins-dad said in Medical reporting in media pisses me off:

compound fracture in each leg,

"Bone sticking out" compound fracture or "lots of pieces" compound?