Curriculum · Musculoskeletal / Orthopedic / Rheumatology
Colles fracture
What it is
A Colles fracture is a fracture of the distal radius that is extra-articular and carries dorsal displacement. Two words fix the directions used for the whole group: volar means towards the thumb, and dorsal means towards the little finger. Put beside its twin, Colles is the extension fracture of the radius and Smith's is the flexion fracture of the radius.
The name changes with age. A distal radius fracture with dorsal displacement is called a Colles fracture in adults, while the same fracture is called a distal radius fracture in children.
How it presents
The mechanism is FOOSH, a fall on outstretched arms, and the two worked cases in the material are both of them that: a 45-year-old construction worker who sustains a fall and presents with an isolated injury to his upper extremity, and a 10-year-old boy who fell while riding his bike and landed on his outstretched arm.
What is seen at the wrist is dorsal angulation, and the most common description of it is the dinner fork deformity.