WRIST DISTAL RADIUS FRACTURE SKIN
With external fixation, a metal frame outside your body immobilizes the fracture with two or more pins that pass through your skin and into the bone on either side of the fracture. Rehabilitation can help, but it can take several months or longer for complete healing. TherapyĪfter your cast or splint is removed, you'll likely need rehabilitation exercises or physical therapy to reduce stiffness and restore movement in your wrist. If you have an open fracture, in which you have a wound or break in the skin near the wound site, you'll likely be given an antibiotic to prevent infection that could reach the bone. Ask your doctor if you can take them for pain relief. NSAIDs can help with pain but might also hamper bone healing, especially if used long-term. If your pain is severe, you might need an opioid medication, such as codeine. To reduce pain, your doctor might recommend an over-the-counter pain reliever. You'll be advised to keep your hand above heart level as much as possible to reduce swelling and pain. To do this, you'll likely need a splint or a cast. Restricting the movement of a broken bone in your wrist is critical to proper healing. Smoking can delay or prevent bone healing. Ask your doctor about the best ways to move them. Whatever your treatment, it's important to move your fingers regularly while the fracture is healing to keep them from stiffening. Depending on the amount of pain and swelling you have, you might need a local or general anesthetic before this procedure. Your doctor will need to manipulate the pieces back into position, a procedure known as a reduction. Hand therapy is very helpful to recover motion, strength and function.If the broken ends of the bone aren't aligned properly, there can be gaps between the pieces of bone or fragments might overlap. The timing and duration of therapy will depend on whether or not you have surgery and how stable your fracture is. Regardless of whether the fracture is fixed or not, you will require some hand therapy to get the motion of your wrist back.
Will I need therapy following distal radius fracture treatment? Other fractures may benefit from surgery to put the broken bones back together and hold them in correct place. In some cases, a well performed operation can get you back to your normal activities faster and with better results than if you have a cast alone. If the fracture is stable, a cast may be used to hold a fracture that has been set. This may be done in the ER by an ER physician, or by one of our hand surgery specialists. If you suffer a “displaced” distal radius fracture, the first step may be to “reduce” or “set” the fracture. The “you” factors – your age, hobbies, functional demands, activities, your health, and what you do for work.How “bad” the fracture is – whether it is displaced, unstable, or open.Generally speaking, the treatment will be guided by a few main factors: Additional tests, such as a CT scan, may be required to get high level detail of the fracture and fracture fragments to determine the type of treatment that is necessary. The diagnosis of a distal radius fracture is made by reviewing your medical history, a physical examination, and X-rays. How is a distal radius fracture diagnosed? Depending on the position of the break, you may feel numbness or tingling in your fingers.
The wrist may appear deformed because the bones are out of place. This pain and swelling can make it hard to move or use the hand and wrist, but some people can still move or use the hand or wrist even if there is a broken bone. When the wrist is broken, there is usually a great deal of pain and swelling. Weak bones (like those with osteoporosis) will break more easily. What may indicate a distal radius fracture?Ī wrist fracture is almost always the result of some type of trauma, most commonly a fall onto an outstretched hand. Fractures may occur as part of a more complex injury where there has been damage to other tissues such as tendons, nerves and blood vessels. Fractures may be even more complex if they involve the major wrist joint (an “intra-articular” fracture). Most fractures are “closed” (no break in the skin), but they can also be “open” (a break in the skin). The fracture can be simple with just two fragments or may shatter into many pieces (“comminuted”).
This is the most common fracture of the wrist. A distal radius fracture is a specific term for a type of wrist fracture.
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