A Modern "Nightstick Fracture" Induced by Contemporary Ballistics During the George Floyd Protests

A 28-year-old male presented to the emergency department with an isolated ulnar shaft fracture secondary to a ballistic injury with a wooden pellet gun. This injury is also known as a "nightstick fracture," which is a common eponym in orthopedic surgery used to describe a fracture of the ulnar shaft. The eponym gained its title for the injury commonly seen when in a defensive position while being attacked with a wooden club. It is widely accepted that this infamous injury was popularized in the 1960s as a sequela of the many race-related riots across the United States. This case details how the nightstick fracture is still prevalent as a result of political protesting today, despite modern-day methods of non-lethal riot control.