Critical Care
The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care publishes articles directed to those who treat patients in the ICU, CCU and SICU including chest physicians, surgeons, pediatricians, pharmacists/pharmacologists, anesthesiologists, critical care nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Manuscripts may be either basic or clinical original investigations or review articles. Potential authors of review articles are encouraged to contact the editors before submission, however, unsolicited review articles will be considered.
January 2025 Critical Care Case of the Month: A 35-Year-Old Admitted After a Fall
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE USA
History of Present Illness
A 35-year-old was injured at work earlier that day. He fell approximately 10 feet while power washing a hog confinement pen from inside the bucket of a skid loader. He complained of pain in his left foot. He had struck his head but denied loss of consciousness. He was admitted to an outside hospital ICU for observation.
PMH, SH, and FH
He has no chronic medical conditions and has never been hospitalized.
He has never smoked and only drinks socially. He is single.
His mother died at 55 of heart disease. His father and 6 brothers and sisters are all healthy.
Physical Examination
He is 5’5” and weighs 193 pounds. There is a head laceration and he has tenderness in his left foot. Otherwise, his physical examination is normal.
Radiology
A foot x-ray reveals fractures of the left second and third metatarsals. Head CT was interpreted as normal.
His chest x-ray is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Chest x-ray on the day of injury. To view Figure 1 in a separate enlarged window click here.
Which of the following are true? (Click on the correct answer to be directed to the first of seven pages
Cite as: VonEssen SG. January 2025 Critical Care Case of the Month: A 35-Year-Old Admitted After a Fall. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care Sleep. 2024;30(1):1-4. doi: