Wrist fracture, very common in children and the elderly

• April 25, 2024

Imagine the scene: a person tries to interrupt or avoid a fall "Getting" hands and arms forward; the hands hit the ground with the weight of the body and the two bones of the forearm - the ulna and the radius - bend or break just above the wrist. It is very likely that this person suffers from a fracture . Considered as one of the bony lesions most common among children and the elderly , wrist fractures are associated with falls, either during the practice of a sport, or by a slip due to wet or icy floors.

This area of ​​the body is extremely delicate, particularly in children, whose bones are soft and tend to suffer from incomplete and incomplete fractures, and in older people -whose bones becomes fragile with age, causes fractures to be complete and disabling. In adults and the elderly, this type of injury is called Colles fracture.

Treatment of wrist fractures and some consequences

When the lesions are not serious they are usually treated by plaster and sling, or a light fiberglass splint. It is very important that it be a specialist , Y not a "bonesetter" , who accommodates the injured wrist and determines the type of treatment as well as its duration. It is likely that the doctor decides to use local anesthesia to reduce the pain of the fracture; in more serious cases, it may be necessary surgery since the rupture will have to be repaired with a platen Y screws , hooks or other plastic or metal attachments.

Mobility does not always recover

Often, older people with Colles fractures they can not recover the total mobility of the wrist joint; Occasionally, injuries in ligaments or on the surface of the joint can cause pain chronic. Another possible early or late complication of the wrist injury is the so-called carpal tunnel syndrome .

Types of fractures

According to the best known classification, breaks in the bones They can be partial or total and are divided between open and closed. In this way the severity of the injury and the recovery method that must be applied. The open fractures they can be perceived with the naked eye, since the skin can show the lesion and even the bone can penetrate the tissue and come out; in the closed, the bone does not go through the skin and at first sight the break can not be detected, so it is necessary to make a bone scan , magnetic resonance or computed tomography or a combination of the two previous ones that offers more details.

Video Medicine: Distal Radius Fractures (April 2024).