Carpal Fracture
A carpal fracture is a break to one of the small bones in the wrist. There are eight carpal bones in the wrist.
Carpal Fracture Symptoms:
- Sudden pain in the wrist.
- Pain on trying to move the wrist.
- Decreased wrist range of motion.
- Tenderness to touch the wrist.
- Swelling.
- Delayed bruising.
Causes
Carpal fractures occur as a rault of a direct impact to the wrist. Usually this is a fall onto the hand. The exact position at impact dictates which bone(s) is (are) fractured.
Carpal fractures account for 18% of all upper limb fractures. Of these, the most common is a scaphoid fracture, followed by a Triquetral fracture.
Treatment of Carpal Fractures
- If a fracture is suspected, seek medical attention.
- An X-ray of the wrist is used to confirm the diagnosis.
- In many cases, carpal fractures are simply immobilised in a cast for 4-12 weeks. The scaphoid may require a very lengthy immobilisation period due to its poor blood flow.
- However, in more complex cases, surgery may be required.
- Fractures where the bone is in more than 2 pieces, or where the fractured fragment is displaced are the most common reasons for surgery.
- Surgery is undertaken to realign the bone fragments and fix them in place with pins. The wrist is then casted as above.
- Scaphoid and Lunate fractures most frequently require surgery.
