A 21 year old college student was playing basketball with his friends when he fell on his outstretched right hand with the palm down. He stood up and continued playing. After 2 days, he felt swelling and tenderness of his right palm without any deformity. On examination, there is tenderness to deep palpation on the snuff box of this right hand.
What is the most likely diagnosis of this patient?
A- Colles fracture
B- Scaphoid fracture
C- First metacarpal bone fracture
D- Tear of opponens pollicis
Answer
This is a very common injury in sports. The description of injury is typical of scaphoid fracture. It is medically significant as the blood supply to the scaphoid could be interrupted causing necrosis to a part of the bone. Other injuries mentioned above are common but they show other clinical features.
The correct answer is B