Problem
You are the only sports medicine staff at the U.S. Women's Gymnastics National Championships. An athlete is practicing her balance beam routine, falls from the beam, and injures her wrist.
Upon primary and secondary survey, you rule out an open fracture, but you observe an obvious deformity in the distal forearm. She becomes frantic, and her respiration rate exceeds 20 breaths per minute. You activate your EAP and continue your evaluation.
Next, you determine that she has a slow capillary refill in the affected limb and diminished sensation along the fourth and fifth digits. Her willingness to move her fingers becomes progressively decreased. You make a gentle attempt to realign the bones but find additional pain and resistance. The vascular and neural responses worsen.
What injury do you suspect the gymnast to have? With the worsening vascular and neural responses, what is the next course of action? Explain your reasoning.