Ortho on the go

Chuck Dowell, PA-C, ATC

Welcome to Ortho on the go podcast. This podcast will revolve around all topics involved with Orthopedics. We will review interesting cases, MSK evaluation, functional orthopedics and discuss a variety of topics involving all aspects of orthopedics. My name is Chuck Dowell i am a PA and ATC with over 25 years of experience in the field. I enjoy teaching and have a passion for linking athletics and orthopedics, finding functional reasons for MSK complaints and helping patients return to sports and activities.

  1. vor 20 Std. ·  Video

    Pain With Back Extension Should Trigger A Pars Workup

    Send us Fan Mail A 17-year-old volleyball player walks into clinic with a week of non-traumatic low back pain, but her story has a detail I never ignore: months earlier, she felt a “pop” during a jump and her symptoms worsened with trunk extension. That combination of athlete profile, mechanism, and exam findings should immediately put pars interarticularis stress injury on your radar. I break down exactly what I saw on exam, why extension pain is such an important clue, and how this presentation can mimic a simple muscle strain while actually being spondylolysis in progress. From there, we move into imaging and diagnosis in a way that is practical for real-world orthopedics and sports medicine. I walk through the lumbar x-rays, the limits of plain films for early stress reactions, and why MRI is often the preferred next step in adolescents to identify bone marrow edema and unilateral pars involvement without radiation. We also define the terms clearly: spondylolysis as a pars fracture and spondylolisthesis as a forward slip, plus what symptoms and red flags to listen for when an athlete reports buttock or upper hamstring pain. Finally, we build a management plan you can actually use. I cover conservative treatment options including activity modification, the pros and cons of bracing, physical therapy priorities like core strength and hip mobility, and return to play criteria that focus on being fully pain-free with normal strength and sport-specific tolerance. We also touch on surgical indications, what direct pars repair can look like, and prevention strategies that start with training volume, flexibility, and avoiding year-round overuse. If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a clinician or coach who works with young athletes, and leave a review with your top takeaway.

    18 Min.
  2. 12. Mai

    Distal Radius Fracture Essentials

    Send us Fan Mail A snowboard edge catch, a fall on an outstretched hand, and a wrist that instantly looks wrong. We take you step-by-step through a classic distal radius fracture presentation in orthopedic urgent care, featuring a 22-year-old with dorsal displacement and the unmistakable dinner fork deformity often seen in a Colles-type fracture. If you want a practical, real-world framework for evaluating acute wrist injuries, this case is built for you.  We start with how we describe the fracture correctly on imaging, focusing on the distal fragment, and what we look for on AP, oblique, and lateral X-rays including loss of radial height and radial inclination plus concern for intra-articular involvement near the DRUJ. From there, we shift to what can’t be missed: a careful distal neurovascular exam. With dorsal displacement, traction on volar structures can lead to neuropraxia, and we talk through why leaving a fracture unreduced can put nerves at risk.  Then we get hands-on with the hematoma block, a useful option when IV sedation is not available. I explain why the dorsal approach is typically safer, where to place the needle relative to the dorsal step-off, how much local anesthetic we commonly use, and why timing and patience matter, especially within the first three to five days. We finish with closed reduction mechanics, the alignment numbers that guide “good enough” reduction (radial inclination, radial length, volar tilt), and how a sugar tong splint with a strong volar three-point mold helps prevent the fracture from drifting back dorsally.  If you want to follow along visually, check out the YouTube version for the X-rays and illustrations, then subscribe, share this with someone who treats wrist injuries, and leave a review with your go-to reduction and splinting tips.

    15 Min.
  3. 29. Apr.

    High Ankle Sprain

    Send us Fan Mail A “simple ankle sprain” can be the most expensive diagnosis in sports medicine when it’s wrong. We’re unpacking a case that looks ordinary at first glance: a 16-year-old wrestler who can still walk, has normal-looking initial X-rays, and yet can’t return to the mat because the pain is higher than the usual sprain spot. That detail changes everything, pushing us toward a high ankle sprain and a syndesmotic injury rather than a routine lateral ligament strain.  We talk through the exact mechanism that should set off alarms, forced external rotation often paired with dorsiflexion and sometimes eversion. From there, we map the anatomy in plain language: the lateral ligaments that drive most inversion sprains versus the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament and the wider syndesmosis complex that stabilises the distal tibia and fibula. We also share the exam findings that matter most, including tenderness at the distal tibiofibular junction and pain reproduced with dorsiflexion plus external rotation.  On the imaging side, we cover the practical radiology checks clinicians use every day, including tibiofibular overlap, tibiofibular clear space, and medial clear space on AP and mortise views. We explain why gravity stress views can help but also why MRI is often the decision-maker when X-rays don’t match the story. Finally, we walk through treatment and recovery: conservative care with a CAM boot and delayed weight bearing versus surgical stabilisation such as tightrope fixation for athletes chasing a faster, more reliable return to sport, plus what rehab progression typically looks like.  If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a teammate or clinician, and leave a review so more athletes and providers can spot a high ankle sprain before it costs a season.

    20 Min.

Info

Welcome to Ortho on the go podcast. This podcast will revolve around all topics involved with Orthopedics. We will review interesting cases, MSK evaluation, functional orthopedics and discuss a variety of topics involving all aspects of orthopedics. My name is Chuck Dowell i am a PA and ATC with over 25 years of experience in the field. I enjoy teaching and have a passion for linking athletics and orthopedics, finding functional reasons for MSK complaints and helping patients return to sports and activities.

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