Using WhatsApp for Assessing Bone Fractures

WhatsApp Messenger is one of the most well-liked instant messaging applications for smart  phones nowadays. It’s not simply for talking or allocation of videos and photographs. This software can also be used as an investigative means for screening various sorts of CT scans and radiographs. The messenger is finding its utilization in the emergency department for preliminary documentation and communication of images to more skilled specialists who are away from the hospital at the time when a patient lands in the Emergency and Trauma department of a hospital. Contrasting the multimedia messaging service, that conveys compressed images, WhatsApp permits allocation of full-resolution images. During a research investigation, the efficacy of Whats App was used by the Consultants to view the fractures of tibial plateau in various patients so as to determine the following:

1. Prototype of injury (shear/depression/shear and depression) 
2. Category of injury(unicondylar lateral/medial/bicondylar)
3. Direction of splinter dislocation (lateral/ medial/ posterior)
4. Fracture classification, according to the Schatzker and Luo classification systems.
5. Any alteration in the categorization by insertion of CTimages

The same software has proved valuable for numerous additional musculoskeletal injuries other than those related with Orthopedics like medical communication, image evaluation, and speedy visualization of images. Radiologists, Craniomaxillofacial Surgeons as well as Consultants belonging to other specialties may profit from revelation of images, for the purpose of defining their healing practices. The beauty of these Apps is that confidentiality of the patient is not debased by the use of WhatsApp, for the reason that only the workforce and resident doctors from their respective departments are able to observe and chat about the images.