Colles FractureColeby Charlier

Tuesday 14th, 2013Care & Prevention

Colles Fracture

Also known as Extra- Articular Distal Radius Fracture

Found in 1814 Irish surgeon and anatomist

› Abraham Colles

Anatomy involved

Distal Radius Radio-carpal Joint

Mechanism for a Colles Fracture

Occurs when a person falls on their outstretched hand

Radius breaks in half towards Radio-carpal joint› Broken part of the Radius points upward

Osteoporosis› Bone is more fragile and more likely to

break› Can make a minor fall into a broken wrist

Colles Fracture

Signs & Symptoms

Pain Tenderness Bruising Swelling Deformity

› Wrist is bent in an odd way

First Aid & Treatment First Aid

› Splint› Ice pack› Doctor’s examination needed

Treatment› Plaster cast, Re-align bone › Splint at 1st then cast› X-ray› Surgery (only if bone is out of place so

much that cast can’t correct it)

Rehab Physical Therapy

› Some Stiffness› Goes away after a couple of weeks,

improvements can take up to 2 years Swimming & exercising the lower body

after 1-2 months of the cast being removed

Vigorous Exercise after 3-6 months of injury

Recovery Expected to take at least 1 year

Citations

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. "Distal Radius Fractures (Broken Wrist)-OrthoInfo - AAOS." Distal Radius Fractures (Broken Wrist)-OrthoInfo - AAOS. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Mar. 2013. Web. 11 May 2013. <http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00412>.

Dr Ian Bickle and Dr Paresh K Desai Et Al. "Colles Fracture." Radiopaedia.org, the Wiki-based Collaborative Radiology Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2013. <http://radiopaedia.org/articles/colles-fracture>.

Jonathan Cluett. "Colles' Fracture." About.com Orthopedics. About.com, 31 July 2003. Web. 11 May 2013. <http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/upperfx/g/colles.htm>.