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CASE REPORT article

Front. Rehabil. Sci.
Sec. Medical and Surgical Rehabilitation
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fresc.2024.1384782
This article is part of the Research Topic Rehabilitation Within the Context of Palliative Care View all 5 articles

Physical Therapist Management and Coordination of Care to Prevent a Pathological Hip Fracture from Metastatic Disease: A Case Report

Provisionally accepted
Athena Manzino Athena Manzino 1Christopher Wilson Christopher Wilson 1,2*
  • 1 Beaumont Health, Royal Oak, Michigan, United States
  • 2 Oakland University, Rochester, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Bone metastases are common in patients with progressive cancer. They are regularly present in long bones and may lead to adverse events including pathologic fractures. In the acute care setting, physical therapists (PTs) may be the initial providers to identify the symptoms associated with fracture risk and communicate concerns to prevent an adverse event.Case Description: A 39-year-old female patient with metastatic breast cancer who was admitted to the hospital with uncontrolled pain. She had a history of bone metastases to the left femur; however, no restrictions or precautions were noted upon the initial PT's examination. Upon the initial PT examination, she was reporting worsening hip pain with weight bearing activity.Outcomes: With the PT's recognition of red flag symptoms, the patient was given a newan MRI was completed MRI which revealed revealing extensive metastatic disease in her left femur with concern for imminent fracture, and prophylactic fixation was performed. Her functional abilities changed improved after surgeryduring this time and with consistent therapeutic intervention, the patient reached a level of independence to return home safely.Discussion and Conclusion: This case demonstrates the successful identification of imminent fracture risk by a PT for a patient with metastatic breast cancer and the therapeutic management that accompanied this process in the acute care setting.

    Keywords: breast cancer, intervention, Skeletal related event, Surgical fixation, Rehabilitation, Physical Therapy, oncology

    Received: 10 Apr 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Manzino and Wilson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Christopher Wilson, Oakland University, Rochester, United States

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