User:BaarmoederVervuiler/Scaphoid fracture

This scaphoid is snapped in half.

A scaphoid fracture is when the scaphoid bone in your wrist is broken. This can hurt when you try to use your hand. The wrist may start to swell up.

Breaking the scaphoid usually happens when someone falls on an outstretched hand. In order to check for a scaphoid fracture, doctors need to take an X-ray of the wrist. Still, such fractures are sometimes difficult to spot.

In the wrist there are many bones, called carpals. Of those carpals the scaphoid breaks the most often.

Healing

There are two main ways of healing from a scaphoid fracture.

Without surgery

Bones will fuse together naturally when they are broken. The wrist will be put in a cast.

However, in the case of a scaphoid bone this is an especially difficult process. For bones to fuse together there needs to be enough blood flowing near the fracture. The scaphoid has little blood flowing around it. Hence, healing in a cast can take as long as six months. Over time there are three cases that can happen when using a cast:

• The scaphoid fuses together properly.
• The scaphoid fuses together but incorrectly.
• The scaphoid does not fuse together at all.

Insertion of a screw.

With surgery

Doctors can speed up recovery by performing surgery on the bone. In this case they will drill a screw through the scaphoid. The screw makes sure the parts of the bone are aligned properly. It also applies pressure on the fracture so it heals faster. The screw stays in the wrist forever, it is not taken out. It is made out of titanium. That is because it is safe within the body and it does not act upon magnets.

Performing surgery has a slightly higher chance of healing successfully. The main advantage is that it takes half the time to heal.