Can these resources replace a call to the office?

No. These pages explain conditions, injuries, and general treatment pathways so you arrive at your visit informed, but they cannot examine you, read your imaging, or confirm a diagnosis.

If you have a question specific to your injury or your care plan, that question goes to the office, not to a web page.

What should I read first if I was referred here after a fracture or traumatic injury?

Start with the page that matches your specific injury, not a general orthopedics overview.

Traumatic injuries range widely in severity and mechanism, from a simple wrist fracture to a multi-fragment pelvic injury, and the right background reading depends on which one you have. Dr. Cole is fellowship-trained in orthopedic trauma at Washington University / Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and the condition pages on this site are organized by injury type for that reason: so a patient with a tibial fracture and a patient with a shoulder dislocation land on different pages with different information.

Is it okay to research my injury online before my appointment?

Yes, with a limit worth knowing.

Reading about your injury ahead of time helps you ask sharper questions and understand your options faster, but it cannot substitute for an exam and imaging, particularly in trauma, where two fractures that look similar on the surface can require very different treatment. That distinction is part of what a trauma-focused evaluation is for, and it is the reason general online descriptions are a starting point rather than an answer.

Do these resources give me a diagnosis?

No. A diagnosis requires a physical exam and, for most traumatic injuries, imaging, neither of which a resource page can provide.

What these pages do is describe what a condition or injury generally involves and what treatment options typically look like, so the conversation at your visit starts from a shared vocabulary instead of from zero.

What if my injury isn't covered by any resource on this page?

That's common, and it doesn't mean anything is wrong with your case.

Traumatic injuries include a wide range of fracture patterns, soft tissue injuries, and combination injuries that don't each get their own page, and new patients regularly arrive with something that doesn't map neatly onto a single condition description. If you can't find your injury described here, call the office directly and describe it; that is a faster and more accurate path than searching for a page that matches. This page is educational and does not replace medical advice. Diagnosis and treatment decisions should be made with your care team.