Possible fractured rib not visible via X-Ray

[Midas]

I slipped and fell causing large bruising around my rib. I did an X-Ray and it is not visible that there is a fracture but the Doctor said it might still be fractured because of the pain I am in.

I have a scheduled dive that I would like to do, which is 3 weeks post accident. I know that I should wait 6 weeks to be safe but my theory is that if I can put on my wetsuit (which will be the most difficult part I think) then I should be okay. This is a boad dive and so I will be able to avoid carrying large weight.

I called DAN and they said something about a possible lung infection but I do not quite undersand this?

What is the worst possible outcome if I go to my dive?

At the moment I am 11 days post accident and I am still in pain and would not be able to put on my wetsuit easily. I was hoping to wait until 2 days before the dive to make up my mind and hopefully I will be pain free by then.

Thanks for you thoughts.

 

[TSandM]

The worst possibility would be that, in the process of struggling into your wetsuit or your gear, you would displace a rib fracture which is currently nondisplaced, and have the end of the rib puncture the lung. This would be EXTREMELY bad.

I'm assuming what DAN was talking about is the fact that people with rib fractures often splint the side of the chest that hurts, and don't expand the lung on that side fully. This can lead to pneumonia, if the secretions in that side of the lung aren't cleared.

Rib fractures are difficult injuries, because it is simply impossible to immobilize the bone so that it can heal. They used to try to do that with strapping, and found that the incidence of pneumonia in people who were strapped was unacceptably high, because they couldn't fully expand the lung. So now, we do pain control and pulmonary toilet (breathing exercises) and accept that the healing will take quite some time before the patient is entirely comfortable.

I would say that, if you are essentially pain-free by the time of your dive, you had a chest wall contusion and no fracture, and are probably safe to dive. If you still have significant pain, you might well have a partially or unhealed fracture, which would be a risk for diving. Just my take . . .