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The Morel-Lavallée lesionLavalleeLavelle
U Amaravathi1, Shruti Singh1, Admala Anudeep Reddy1
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, India.
Background:
Trauma patients present to the emergency department with various injuries. Few injuries can be easily missed during the evaluation of polytrauma patients. We report one such rare injury in a trauma patient.
Case Report:
We report the case of a 67-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with an alleged history of trauma. He reported severe pain in the lower abdomen, right hip, and right thigh. An x-ray study did not reveal any bony injury, and an extended focused assessment with sonography in trauma was also negative. Point-of-care ultrasound of his right thigh revealed the presence of a Morel-Lavallée lesion. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Morel-Lavallée lesions are post-traumatic, closed, degloving injuries that go unnoticed in many polytrauma patients. Emergency physicians should be mindful of this lesion because delay in diagnosis can result in significant complications.
