Complications of hand fractures and their prevention.

Regardless of the clinician's technical skill, the results of hand fracture treatment may not be optimal. Tissue planes are damaged by the initial trauma, and surgical approaches to restore bony anatomy or develop tendon gliding further violate them with scarring producing adhesions and motion deficits. Close communication with therapists may help reduce complications.

Osteoid osteoma of the hamate.

Uncommonly affecting the carpus, osteoid osteoma, a benign bone lesion, will involve the hand in 10% of cases. With negative initial radiographs and persistent tenderness in a 15-year-old boy after a fall, a wrist magnetic resonance imaging revealed extensive hamate edema without a fracture line. He was casted for a presumed hamate fracture.

Current perspectives in the management of scaphoid nonunions.

When left untreated, scaphoid fractures follow a downward spiral resulting in carpal collapse and arthritis. The purpose of intervention is to allow a cartilage-wrapped bone to heal and maintain a smooth articular surface. Proposed treatment options for scaphoid nonunions have varied success rates.