Cattle Fracture Research Paper

When a child falls off the monkey bars and lands right on their outstretched hand, they most likely injured their wrist, or fractures the dorsal end of their distal radius bone. In fact, fractures to the distal radius bone makeup up 8 to 15 percent of bone injuries according to epidemiologists, and are about twenty percent of all fractures.² A form of distal radius fracture, is commonly known as the Colles’ fracture; which is a result of a fall of traumatic event landing on an outstretched hand bending the distal radius backwards on the wrist by swelling and deformity. Abraham Colles first described this injury in 1814 before X-Rays were available.⁵ This type of fracture identified by Colles occurs after a fall, trauma or osteoporosis. Patients

The mechanism of the injury is unique to each group however, with high-energy injury being more common in the younger group and low-energy injuries being more common in older groups”.³ Colles’ fractures can be seen across and these fractures are most commonly a result of strain rate, showing how important it is to land properly when falling on the wrist and to not keep it outstretched, and how important it is to reduce the strain rate on the radius bone.⁴
Many causes of a Colles’ fracture are due to Osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition where bones are prone to easy breakage due to lack of calcium or vitamin D. When a Colles’ fracture is first diagnosed, the most important thing to do is immobilize ones wrist. The more the fractured wrist is moved, the more pain and swelling will be received. To alleviate the pain and swelling, elevate the wrist above the level of the heart with a cast or splint. Simple pain medications like Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen help to decrease the pain from the fracture. All of these things are the most basic forms of