Metatarsal fx activity order?

Hello,

I'm a nursing student and I had a patient who had a right metatarsal fx on 10/12/11. She had the fx on 10/9.

Her foot hadbeen dressed and splinted. Her activity order at first was bed rest, then it was changed to up with one assist.

I had her use the walker while I supported. Should she have been up and walking only 3 days after her fracture?
Cause, type and location vary, as does the status of the pt. I think the fact that it was splinted might be the key here.

As always, we cannot second-guess the treating physician. But I will say that there's a big difference between walking with a walker and bearing weight vs. walking with a walker while non-weight bearing. I can't tell from your post which order was given and perhaps that's the clue that you're missing.Extended periods of rest can only bring on secondary issue with patients.

Quote from lsid16Hello,I'm a nursing student and I had a patient who had a right metatarsal fx on 10/12/11. She had the fx on 10/9. Her foot hadbeen dressed and splinted. Her activity order at first was bed rest, then it was changed to up with one assist. I had her use the walker while I supported. Should she have been up and walking only 3 days after her fracture?

yes!!! They can be up walking post op day 1. I work on a cardiac floor and our open heart patients, we want them up walking the day after surgery. They spend a day in ICU before coming to our floor, and sometimes in ICU they will even get them up! Patients NEED to move move move move move!Usually physicians will order activity such as "Up 3x daily" or "up to chair 4x daily" or "bed rest with bathroom privileges." its really not that common someone is someone on STRICT bedrest like that.

Quote from Jenni811yes!!! They can be up walking post op day 1. I work on a cardiac floor and our open heart patients, we want them up walking the day after surgery. They spend a day in ICU before coming to our floor, and sometimes in ICU they will even get them up! Patients NEED to move move move move move!Usually physicians will order activity such as "Up 3x daily" or "up to chair 4x daily" or "bed rest with bathroom privileges." its really not that common someone is someone on STRICT bedrest like that.

It all depends upon the actual order, which metatarsal was Fx'd, what was done to repair... but I would expect that the patient would be on some kind of partial weight bearing on that foot. The foot is splinted and any remaining unfractured metatarsals can take the strain of being up. This will also give the metatarsal fractures time to model themselves for maximum strength from the get-go. If just one metatarsal was broken, I might expect FWB as tolerated... as long as there's appropriate splinting in place to prevent shifting of the bone ends.