eMedicine Specialties > Radiology > Musculoskeletal

Radius, Distal Fractures: Follow-up

Author: Browyn Richards, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Family Practice, Boone Branch Medical Clinic, Portsmouth Naval Hospital
Coauthor(s): Ricardo Riego de Dios, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Naval Air Station; William D Craig, MD, MBA, Chairman and Registrar and GU Section Head, Department of Radiologic Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Aug 18, 2009

Intervention

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Distal radial fractures that are not appropriately diagnosed with radiographic methods may result in increased morbidity.
    • At minimum, PA and lateral plain radiographs are required, but oblique and other views may be warranted, depending on the patient's history and examination findings.
    • CT scanning and MRI can be used to assess occult fractures and the extent of associated soft-tissue damage.
    • Beware of missed radioulnar subluxations.
  • Some normal wrist variants may simulate fractures of the distal radius.
    • In 1996, Keats described the ulnar styloid ossicle, epiphysis clefts, epiphyseal spurs, remnants of the epiphyseal line, and physiologic ulnar plus variants.25
    • A cleft distal epiphysis may appear as a fracture on an oblique view. An epiphysis or apophysis may develop from many centers. A closed epiphyseal spur may be mistaken for an avulsion. An epiphyseal line remnant may simulate a fracture. A long ulna (ulnar plus variant) may be mistaken for a distal radioulnar joint dislocation.
  • Radiographic findings that are minute or possibly normal variants require comparison with the contralateral normal wrist and further studies before interventional procedures are recommended.
 


More on Radius, Distal Fractures

Overview: Radius, Distal Fractures
Imaging: Radius, Distal Fractures
Follow-up: Radius, Distal Fractures
Multimedia: Radius, Distal Fractures
References
Further Reading
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References

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Keywords

distal radius fracture, broken wrist, broken arm, wrist fractures, forearm fractures, Colles' fracture, Colles fracture, Smith's fracture, Smith fracture, Barton's fracture, Barton fracture, chauffeur's fracture, Hutchinson's fracture, Hutchinson fracture, Galeazzi's fracture, Galeazzi fracture, Piedmont fracture, Essex-Lopresti injury, die-punch fractures, radial styloid, buckle fracture, greenstick fracture

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Browyn Richards, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Family Practice, Boone Branch Medical Clinic, Portsmouth Naval Hospital
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Ricardo Riego de Dios, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Naval Air Station
Ricardo Riego de Dios, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology, American Roentgen Ray Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

William D Craig, MD, MBA, Chairman and Registrar and GU Section Head, Department of Radiologic Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
William D Craig, MD, MBA is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Radiology, American Roentgen Ray Society, Radiological Society of North America, and Society of Uroradiology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Leon Lenchik, MD, Director, Densitometry Minifellowship, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Wake Forest University Medical Center
Leon Lenchik, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology, American Roentgen Ray Society, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Bernard D Coombs, MB, ChB, PhD, Consulting Staff, Department of Specialist Rehabilitation Services, Hutt Valley District Health Board, New Zealand
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

Theodore E Keats, MD, Professor, Departments of Radiology and Orthopedics, University of Virginia School of Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Robert M Krasny, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Radiology, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute
Robert M Krasny, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Roentgen Ray Society and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Felix S Chew, MD, MBA, EdM, Professor, Department of Radiology, Vice Chairman for Radiology Informatics, Section Head of Musculoskeletal Radiology, University of Washington
Felix S Chew, MD, MBA, EdM is a member of the following medical societies: American Roentgen Ray Society, Association of University Radiologists, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

 
 
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