[The primarly overlooked scaphoid fracture--a diagnostic challenge?]

Scaphoid fractures represent the most common carpal bone fractures. These fractures may be overlooked due to insufficient diagnostics and lead to non-union and disability. A standardized diagnostic procedure with X-ray examinations, CT scans and/or MRI is recommended. We report on a case where a scaphoid fracture was overlooked, probably because of an incorrect technique of the computed tomography.

A 42-year-old man was admitted to our emergency room after a fall on the out-stretched wrist. X-rays showed no evidence of a bony lesion. In the follow-up examination on the next day, a scaphoid fracture was still suspected clinically. Because of that a CT scan in thin slice technique with axial layers and multiplanar reconstruction was performed but showed no sign of a fracture. Six weeks after the trauma the patient presented with persistent wrist pain. X-rays and a CT scan of the wrist now demonstrated an old waist fracture of the scaphoid. -Operative treatment with iliac crest bone grafting and screw fixation was performed.

Early diagnosis and a correct description of the fracture pattern are of high value in the treatment of scaphoid fractures. X-rays combined with a CT scan or an MRI scan of the affected wrist are considered as the diagnostic standard. The reported case demonstrates that even with a thin thickness layer CT scan in axial planes, a scaphoid fracture can be overlooked. Therefore we recommend after primarily inconspicuous X-rays a CT scan with primary -oblique-sagittal layers in the longitudinal axis of the scaphoid. If this shows no fracture and the clinical suspicion persists, an MRI scan should be performed.