Aprendiendo de nuestros errores

Abstract

Diagnostic errors play an important role in patient safety, being this one of our values as doctors. Although in some cases they can "only" suppose a delay in the improvement of the patient, in many others, they can lead to a torpid evolution of the disease or even to a fatal outcome. This article presents the case of a 19-year-old girl, who is a professional dancer and who was treated on several occasions for symptoms in the left foot and ankle, in the last two years, always accusing the clinic of her daily activity. It is in the last medical appointment, after extending the imaging studies, when a tibial osteochondroma is diagnosed. Due to performing a retrospective of the multiple previous radiographies, it was observed that the tumor was visible from the first one. In this case, it was a benign pathology with surgical resolution, but it could have been a malignant or incurable disease at the time of diagnosis. Hence the importance of always reviewing all the data and complementary tests available in a case, regardless of whether they may have been previously assessed by other colleagues.