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Wrist Fracture Surgery
Lexington KY

A wrist fracture is a medical term for a broken wrist. The wrist is made up of eight small bones which connect the two long forearm bones called the radius and ulna. Although a broken wrist can happen in any of these 10 bones, by far the most common bone to break is the radius. This is called a distal radius fracture by our hand surgeons at Bluegrass Orthopaedics.

Wrist fracture can be caused due to a fall on the outstretched arm or an injury due to accidents such as a car accident or workplace injuries. A wrist fracture is more common in people with osteoporosis, a condition marked by brittleness of the bones. Common symptoms of a wrist fracture include pain, swelling and deformity at the wrist site, as well as movement constraint in the hand and wrist. More commonly, fracture in the radius is seen in many fractures exhibiting deformity of the wrist. Deformity may not be apparent in the case of fractures of the smaller bones such as the scaphoid.

Some wrist fractures are more severe than others. Fractures that break apart the smooth joint surface or fractures that shatter into many pieces may make the bone unstable. These severe types of fractures at Bluegrass Orthopaedics in Lexington, KY often require wrist fracture surgery to restore and hold their alignment. An open fracture occurs when a fragment of bone breaks and is forced through the skin. This can cause an increased risk of infection in the bone.

There are three types of bone fractures:

  • Type I - a "nondisplaced" fracture where the bone has a break but is still in normal position.
  • Type II - a fracture where a fragment of bone is shifted from its normal position.
  • Type III - the most serious type of fracture, because there are multiple breaks of the bone.

Type I and Type II fractures usually are treated without surgery. Type III fractures usually require wrist fracture surgery.

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A hand or wrist problem can cause numbness, tingling, weakness and stiffness, making it difficult to write, type, drive or even hold an object. Bluegrass Orthopaedics sees patients with hand, wrist and forearm pain and we offer minimally invasive procedures to address your symptoms. Surgery is not always the best option for hand and upper extremity injuries. Wrist fracture surgery can take a long time to heal and the procedures are very complex.

The surgeons at Bluegrass Orthopaedics have a reputation for excellence in evaluating and managing problems involving pain or injury in the wrist, hand, arm and forearm. Many hand and wrist conditions respond well to conservative treatments such as medication, injections or handy therapy. In some instances, wrist fracture surgery is necessary. If that happens, you can feel confident that our specialists have extreme experience in wrist and hand fracture surgery.

Working with the hand and wrist, our surgeons integrate all aspects of specialized care collectively combining their knowledge, experience and expertise as the foundation of our hand team at Bluegrass Orthopaedics. Our surgeons are the most highly skilled hand and wrist surgeons in the area.

Bluegrass Orthopaedics strongly believes in treating patients in the most optimal setting. The vast majority of surgical procedures for hand and wrist problems are performed on an outpatient basis. When it comes to wrist fracture surgery in Lexington, KY, nobody does it better than Bluegrass Orthopaedics.