FRACTURES – SCAPHOID; COLLES’ FRACTURE

Monday, May 18, 2009 6:26

Is easily broken. This is a common injury following a fall, for instance from a horse. It is recognised by a swelling and a deformity over the collarbone. Often a grating may be felt or a grating sound may be heard when the arm is moved.

Falls on the extended hands of young adults often fracture a bone in the wrist, known as the scaphoid. This will produce tenderness and pain near the base of the thumb. Although the wrist may still be used, this fracture is often missed and is regarded as “just a sprained wrist.”

It is a serious condition and requires at least 12 weeks in plaster. If neglected and not immobilised for at least two or three weeks, the bones may not heal quickly and could require five or six months in plaster, or even an operation at the end of that time.

Elderly people, particularly women, when they fall on the wrist, may break the lower part of the radius, the main forearm bone. This is obvious by the formation of a particular type of swelling at the lower part of the forearm, just before the wrist. It looks like and is in fact called the “dinner-fork deformity.” As the two broken ends may be driven one into the other (impacted), there is often still considerable mobility left in the wrist, and it doesn’t just hang limp. Put the arm in a sling and seek medical aid.

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