Is A Hard Lump On The Hip Post Injury A Cause For Concern?

Posted on Mon, 19 Dec 2016

Question: Hi My Husband who is 82 fell out of bed Fri. Night dident complain about it till Sat night. I checked it he had a bruise which dident link bad Tonight I check he has a hard lump and is red like blood from the top of hip to the back of knee. He is on Coumadin and baby aspirin so I am worried. Wanted him to go to emergency room but wants to wait till morning. What do you think?

Answered by Dr. Mahaveer Patil (33 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Seems to be a blunt trauma

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for posting the query.

From the history, i can see two possibilities...

POSSIBILITY 1 - It may be a soft tissue blunt trauma without any underlying bone being fractured.The bruise and hard lump may be due to internal bleeding haematoma that may have occured due to coumadin and aspirin.

POSSIBILITY 2 - The underlying bone may be fractured that may have caused the swelling and the bruise. Bones at this age are generally weak and tend to fracture easily due to such trivial traumas.

I suggest you should take him to ER,get him X-rayed immediately to see for any fractures. If the Xray confirms a fracture,an orthpedist consultation is recommended.

If there are no signs of fracture on Xray,then there is nothing to worry about. The bruise and swelling will resolve spontaneously with anti-inflammatory medicines.

Apply ice packs on the affected area.DO NOT APPLY ANTYTHING WARM as it may lead to cellulitis and infection.

Do let me know the Xray reports once they are ready.

Hope the answer was useful.

Thank you.

Kind regards...

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. REMY KOSHY