And the elbow joint is where again?

That little man in my head is not doing his job properly! I must have been on a winning streak this whole week. I had the right answers to the right questions, yeah, I felt like a winner alright. Then today some guy came in with a snapped biceps tendon; his arm actually looked like Popeye's - EXCEPT the biceps was sitting bunched-up on the top part of his arm, and not DOWN the bottom like how they describe in the textbooks... usually the upper biceps tendon gets snapped off, not the lower one*.

Ruptures of the distal tendon near the elbow are rare. They usually occur when an unexpected force is applied to a bent arm. For example, a snowboarder can rupture the distal biceps tendon if he or she uses the arm to try to break a fall during a turn.

The proximal biceps tendons near the shoulder tear more easily. Tears can be either partial or complete. Often, these tendons are already frayed, particularly if you are over 40 years of age, have a history of shoulder pain, and participate in activities that involve overhead motions. Among the elderly, biceps tendon ruptures near the shoulder are often associated with rotator cuff tears.

Anyway, I don't know how or why, but when the doctor asked me what I thought had happened, I said

"Looks like the coracobrachialis tendon was snapped."

*pindrop silence*

Gah, the look on his face made me want to sink into the ground. The coracobrachialis tendon???? What on earth was I thinking??? *tears hair out*

Geez, someone has to hit the books... hard.

Anyway the rest of outpatients was fun. =D I really like orthopaedics. Sort of like carpentry with bones, lots of blood... and then some swift needlework at the end.


* Story: He was being attacked by wild animals and was flinging his arms about when he heard a snapping sound.