ABSTRACT
History A 67-year-old woman is currently an inpatient under the orthopaedic team after falling at home and sustaining a fractured neck of femur on the right side. She was admitted for an emergency repair with a dynamic hip screw. As part of the medical team on call, the orthopaedics team have contacted you because her platelet count has been consistently dropping, and they are now concerned that it is too low for her to continue with the heparin infusion that she is currently receiving for her metallic heart valve, which was started 6 days ago. During her admission she has been generally well, but had experienced a urinary tract infection, treated with gentamicin. The operation had gone smoothly without any significant bleeding and there was no haematoma at the wound site.
