The National Hemophilia Foundation’s (NHF) Nursing Working Group has been revising and expanding The Nurses’ Guide to Bleeding Disorders (NGBD). First published in 1995, the guide provides comprehensive information and practical ideas to assist nurses at all levels in caring for patients with bleeding disorders.
Over the last several years, the NGBD has further evolved into a readily accessible online resource, serving as an introduction to nurses new to coagulation and an information source for more experienced nurses. New chapters, which continue to be uploaded in downloadable PDF format, cover a wide range of topics such as von Willebrand disease, rare bleeding disorders, hepatitis, orthopedics and women with bleeding disorders.
In this edition of eNotes, NHF highlights the chapter “Orthopedic Complications and Treatment Related to Chronic Hemarthrosis,” written by Susan Geraghty, RN, MBA. In this chapter, Geraghty provides a baseline explanation of target joints and hemophilic arthropathy, the debilitating and painful joint disease resulting from chronic bleeding into a patient’s joints such as the knee, elbow, ankle and hip. She goes on to describe the highly sensitive tools that can now be employed in joint assessment, including radiographic imaging [ultrasound, CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] and the subsequent application of effective classification systems/joint scores. Geraghty also emphasizes the importance of comprehensive care as a robust response to chronic hemarthrosis and a helpful way to ameliorate its degenerative affects.
