The patient receives a plaster cast for an ulnar fracture. What would the nurse expect to see on the first day after cast application?
a. The fingers are slightly edematous.
b. The fingers are cool, pale, and dry.
c. The fingertips blanch slowly.
d. Skin is bulging over the cast edge.
A
The nurse expects mild edema after a fracture as evidence of the immune response to tissue trauma. It should be 1+ or less. Cool, pale, dry skin and slow blanching are consistent with clini-cal indicators of impaired perfusion; the nurse expects adequate perfusion with warm, pink, dry skin and swift blanching. Bulging skin at the top of a cast is consistent with clinical indicators for excessive edema; the nurse does not expect this patient datum because excessive edema poten-tially impairs perfusion and nerve function from tissue compression.
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