Pitfalls in the radiologic evaluation of extremity trauma: Part I. The upper extremity

Family physicians often are required to evaluate patients who present with acute skeletal trauma. The first of this two-part series discusses the features and evaluation of some commonly missed fractures and dislocations of the upper limb, excluding the hand. Dislocations of the sternoclavicular joint are infrequent and often missed. Clavicular fractures in adults usually are not hard to diagnose. Acromioclavicular joint dislocations represent about 10 percent of all dislocation injuries to the shoulder girdle. Forty percent of all dislocations occur at the glenohumeral joint. Scapular fractures are often a result of significant force. Multiple views should be obtained in adults with a suspected fracture of the elbow. Complications in fractures of the wrist are strongly related to the location of the fracture.