Scaphoid fracture

Scaphoid fractures that are not treated properly can lead to long-term problems.

With proper treatment and follow-up, most scaphoid fractures will heal over time.

A scaphoid fracture is a break in a small bone on the thumb side of your wrist.

Scaphoid fractures usually cause pain at the base of the thumb accompanied by swelling in the same area.

What is a scaphoid fracture of the wrist?

Sometimes an X-ray clearly shows a scaphoid fracture.

Most scaphoid fractures occur when you stretch your hand out in front of you to protect yourself from a fall.

Treatment for scaphoid fractures includes wearing an arm cast or splint and sometimes having surgery.

Non union can also occur from undiagnosed or undertreated scaphoid fractures.

Interestingly, scaphoid fracture is one of the most frequent causes of medico-legal issues.

'We'll treat it as a scaphoid fracture.

How is a scaphoid fracture diagnosed?

Scaphoid fractures are often diagnosed by X-rays.

What causes a scaphoid fracture?

Approximately 60% of carpal fractures are scaphoid fractures.

It is important to find out if you have a scaphoid fracture, because scaphoid fractures need treatment to heal well.

Avascular necrosis (AVN) is a common complication of a scaphoid fracture.

The differential diagnosis includes scaphoid fractures and wrist dislocations, which can also co-exist with a distal radius fracture.

First described by Preiser in 1910 in 5 patients, all with previous history of wrist trauma, and scaphoid fractures in 3 of them.

In some cases, other imaging tests such as MRIs, CT scans, and bone scans are used to look for scaphoid fractures.

Scaphoid fractures often happen while a person is playing sports such as football, soccer, or basketball or during activities such as Rollerblading, skateboarding, or bike riding.

Because most scaphoid fractures do not cause the wrist to look broken and many cause only minor symptoms, it can be hard to know if your scaphoid bone is broken.

A scaphoid fracture, a fracture of the scaphoid bone also known as the carpal navicular, is the most common type of carpal bone fracture.

Treatment of scaphoid fractures is guided by the location in the bone of the fracture (proximal, waist, distal), displacement (or instability) of the fracture, and patient tolerance for cast immobilization.

It is used to provide support for thumb injuries (ligament instability, sprain or muscle strain), gamekeeper's thumb, osteoarthritis, de Quervain's syndrome, scaphoid fracture, thumb sprains, post-operative use, and post-removal of casting of the hand/thumb.