FRACTURES OF THE CARPAL SCAPHOID BONE IN INDUSTRY AND IN THE MILITARY SERVICE

In a large industrial organization injuries to the wrist outnumber other injuries by a wide margin. These injuries include sprains that heal by themselves, sprains that become chronic and so-called "sprain fractures." Aside from these there is also the all too common "special case" which becomes progressively worse regardless of treatment. Carefully taken roentgenograms usually reveal a scaphoid bone with an ununited fracture. This type of injury presents varied problems. It is not alone a painful handicap to the patient and a perplexing case to the physician, but it is a decidedly trying case for the Accident Commission and becomes a serious economic liability in the yearly budget. In the military service the patient with a fractured scaphoid becomes a "complainer" and is not only a handicap to the service but, more important, exceedingly bad for the morale of the men in camp.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE  All writers on fractures