Any patient with a fracture, cast, splint, traction, surgical extremity or circumferential dressing gets scheduled neurovascular checks distal to the injury, compared with the opposite limb. Set the findings below and see which ones are early, which are late, and which end the exam and start a phone call. Then score fall risk with real numbers — TUG, tandem stance and orthostatic vital signs.
Your patient is 2 hours post cast application for a right tibial fracture. Assess the right foot and compare it with the left. Every element is charted; not every element carries the same weight.
The single best predictor of a fall in the next year is a fall in the last year. Ask every adult over 65 the three questions, then measure.
Timed Up and Go
Rise from a standard armchair, walk 10 feet (3 m), turn, walk back, sit — usual footwear, usual assistive device.
Orthostatic vital signs
Supine after 5 minutes of rest, then sitting, then standing — and measure standing within 3 minutes. Stay with the patient the whole time.
Gait integrates everything you just tested. Watch a full walking cycle from the front, the side and behind — stride length, arm swing, foot clearance, base width, symmetry. Read the description and name it.