# Kid broken arm - Urgent care vs Hospital ER



## greddy09sc (Aug 28, 2006)

So my 5yr old son fell off the bed tonight and broke his arm. We took him in to the Urgent care/ER off of FM646. 

Long story short ... It is in fact a broken/fractured arm. Doc sent him home with a split and inform us to call orthopedic on Monday for either cast or surgery, until the swelling goes down.

So my question is, if I was to go to the actual ER from the hospital, would they have either cast him or perform surgery right then and there? I'm thinking the urgent care is giving me the run-around because they don't have an orthopedic on site. Or, will it be the same case if I would have brought him in to the hospital ER.

BTW, they charge us the same co-pay as an ER , not urgent care co-pay, which is less. When ask, they say this is not an urgent care but an ER ... urgent care closes at 9-10pm. ER is 24hours. Never knew that.


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## bonehead (Jan 25, 2009)

When I broke my arm several years ago they didn't cast it the same day . It was three or four days before the swelling went down enough for them to do it .


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## Brassnadz (Jun 18, 2007)

PM sent.


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## greddy09sc (Aug 28, 2006)

bonehead said:


> When I broke my arm several years ago they didn't cast it the same day . It was three or four days before the swelling went down enough for them to do it .


Thanks for the response. That makes me feel a lot more comfortable now. Doc did say that we got to wait for the swelling to go down, like you said. I just thought it might be an excuse because they didn't have a orthopedic on site. But in any case, i feel a little better now.

Just a parent instinct ya know. Always doubting ...


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## 11andy11 (Aug 12, 2004)

If you want the best upper extremity orthopedic surgeon on the planet call Dr. Mark Henry. He has done alot of surgery on me. http://www.houstonhandandwrist.com/?gclid=CNqE5vGq9qkCFQpU7AodBmA9Xw


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## fwoodwader (Jul 18, 2008)

If they X-Ray'ed it and sent you home then I'm guessing a doctor made that diagnosis so you should be alright.

Surgery I thought was usually required if it was a really bad break and there was protruding bones out of the skin because they don't want marrow to get in the blood stream or something like that.


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## gitchesum (Nov 18, 2006)

When my Mom broke her elbow, we sat in the ER waiting room for 3 hours, an another 3 hours in the ER.

They took X-Rays and sent her home in a shoulder strap with a pain med RX.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they didn't do a good job...they most certainly did.

However, seeing they had to deal with 20 kids with runny noses and the woman in the next room demanding cough syrup with codeine(my 1.5 year old son does a more convincing fake cough), Urgent Care Centers will be my first choice from this point on.


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## 47741 (Jan 5, 2010)

Most hospitals won't have an orthopedist on site at night. They don't have a lot of specialists on site that you might expect. They will just keep you around until the specialist shows up at 7am if they think its needed...and its not extremely urgent. If extremely urgent, they will call the specialist that is "on call" Usually there are no neuro-, ortho-, cardio-, oncolo-, dermatolo- and several other -gists during the night shift. (I would imagine a trauma center is different)


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## Miss Dixie (May 21, 2004)

I broke my big toe in 3 places last October after tripping in flip flops and falling into a hole. Went to the Urgent Care (no insurance) and they did x-rays and sent me home after buddy taping it to the other toes and a script for pain. They recommended I consult with an orthopedic on Monday morning in which I did. The Urgent Care center burned me a copy of the x-rays so I didn't have to pay for them twice.

Hope your little one recovers fast. Prayers sent.


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## Archer (Jul 10, 2006)

Not to shoot down others but for children you want a pediatric ortho doc on the job. HUGE difference between kids and adults when it comes to broken bones. PM sent and I hope he does well. Most of the time it's harder on the parents than the children.


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## shanker (Jan 15, 2006)

same thing would have happened if you went to the ER in the hospital I work at


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## specktacular0928 (Jan 21, 2006)

Miss Dixie said:


> I broke my big toe in 3 places last October after tripping in flip flops and falling into a hole. Went to the Urgent Care (no insurance) and they did x-rays and sent me home after buddy taping it to the other toes and a script for pain. They recommended I consult with an orthopedic on Monday morning in which I did. The Urgent Care center burned me a copy of the x-rays so I didn't have to pay for them twice.
> 
> Hope your little one recovers fast. Prayers sent.


did they charged you an arm and a leg... or plus a toe?


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## Alexnillo (Jan 10, 2008)

You should consider taking your child to Texas Childrens Hospital in the medical center. Two of my kids have gone there before on different emergercies after going to different hospitals and doctors offices. I learned the hard way.

Hope your son gets well soon.


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## Boatflounder (Mar 12, 2007)

for a broken bone you just as good at an urgent care as an er actually probably be treeated quicker and either way you have to see a specialist before you get acast.
Unfortrunately i know all about this.

also unfortunately I know about the ER and if you show up with weird enough **** they WILL get the specialist there even on a sunday evening. hope you all beleive me on that and never have it proven to you!


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

I heard the price is more @ an Urgent Care, than an ER. Is this true?


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## texnred (Jul 8, 2005)

Alexnillo said:


> You should consider taking your child to Texas Childrens Hospital in the medical center. Two of my kids have gone there before on different emergercies after going to different hospitals and doctors offices. I learned the hard way.
> 
> X2 on TCH...my son broke his arm right above the elbow. We went to an urgent care center...they started and IV and morphine, x-rayed and tried to send us home set and splinted and with directions to see and orthopedic the next day. We transported by ambulance (they wouldn't let us take him with the IV in) and got him to TCH. They looked at the x-rays and decided it needed to be pinned and they said there was no way they would have been able to set the arm without causing damage due to the location of the break right at the elbow. He went into surgery and came out with a cast that was split to allow for swelling. Three weeks later pins were removed and he was fine. From then on it has been TCH for any type of real emergency for the kiddos.


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## InfamousJ (May 21, 2004)

Miss Dixie said:


> I broke my big toe in 3 places last October after tripping in flip flops and falling into a hole.


so are you going to tell us the entire story of that incident? Sounds entertaining, although at your expense of course... LOL


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## grman (Jul 2, 2010)

Sounds like they did you right.

Had our 4 year old fall out of a tree and break his arm. Went to Clear Lake ER. Of course his mother is freaking. I am pretty calmn about it. Figure he is not the first kid to have broken an arm.

Nurse comes in and asks "Bike, Skateboard or Tree?" So I knew we were in experienced hands.

Back to your kid, first thing they should of done is an Xray. If the break is clean and not compound, they stabilize the arm and send you home to let the swelling go down. In a few days, you can go to the orthopedic dr of your choice to have a cast applied. If the edges of the break are jagged, the er dr would of probably called a Ortho in right then to pin (stabilize) the break and keep it from doing any more tissue damage.

Good news is that with a kid that young, the break, heck the whole bone will be encapsulated in calcium as he grows and he will be good as new.


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## drfishalot (Sep 9, 2004)

for the run of the mill distal forearm breaks, the urgent care SHOULD be cheaper, quicker, and just as capable as any ER. elbow is a different story although some of those (non displaced) will be sent home to see an orthopedist in the very near future, though I usually call the orthopedist to run it by him and set up the visit with him. Really, back when we were kids, most people just waited and went to their doctor, and in most cases that would suffice today. it is amazing how many bumps, scratches, sprains, strains wind up in the ER these days, and I just look at them and think to myself-why are you here?


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## Red Tuna (May 19, 2007)

Sorry to hear about your son...

Fortunately I don't have any experience with exactly what you're dealing with, but we do have the name of a great pediatric ortho group, so if you need one PM me.


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## Tate (Aug 25, 2005)

I had a good friend whose son died from a blood clot after a broken leg. This was probably 20 years ago. Granted this was the leg and not an arm and I don't remember every detail, but suspect it was a fairly serious break. The kid was in the hospital at the time. After knowing about that story I would always choose hospital because you would have a better chance of dealing with any complication. Unfortunately in that case things turned out for the worse. I know what happened to him was a tragic accident, but something to think about.


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## FATfisherman (Mar 13, 2009)

Three years ago while washing dished a glass shattered and I filleted my pointer finger to the bone. I called my Dr. and he said go to the ER but I didn't want to do the $150 co-pay so I opted for urgent care and a $40 co-pay. Urgent Care on Beamer and Scarsdale was great; Dr. cleaned and sewed me up in a few minutes. I was there about 30 minutes total.
One other thing to remember is that not many "Urgent Care" facilities are opened late and you will have to go to the ER!
I hope your little man makes a speedy recovery.


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