PANORAMIC REVIEW OF ACUTE SCAPHOID FRACTURES: DESCRIPTION, EPIDEMIOLOGY, ETIOLOGY, PRESENTATION, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND PROGNOSIS

Abstract

Introduction: Scaphoid fractures are the most common fractures of the carpal bone and commonly occur in young males. Inadequate treatment of these fractures commonly leads to pseudarthrosis, resulting in pain and significant disability. Tenderness to palpation and/or pain with axial loading of the thumb should be managed as if it were a scaphoid fracture until proven otherwise. Objective: to detail current information related to scaphoid fractures, description, epidemiology, etiology, presentation, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Methodology: a total of 37 articles were analyzed in this review, including review and original articles, as well as clinical cases, of which 20 bibliographies were used because the other articles were not relevant to this study. The sources of information were PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane; the terms used to search for information in Spanish, Portuguese and English were: fracture, scaphoid, carpal bones, trauma, surgery. Results: Scaphoid fractures account for 2% to 7% of all fractures and 60% to 70% of carpal bone fractures. They are infrequent in children with approximately 3% of all pediatric hand and wrist fractures. Non-displaced fractures have high healing rates with cast treatment. Radiographs may miss fractures up to 25% of the time. Physical therapy is important in both operative and nonoperative treatment. Conclusions: Knowledge of the clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of scaphoid fractures is of utmost importance, because sometimes this type of fracture can go undetected on radiographs, which can lead to complications such as pseudarthrosis. The diagnosis of scaphoid fractures is sometimes complicated, so when there is clinical suspicion, appropriate complementary examinations should be performed to better determine the pathological condition, as is the case of computed tomography. Conservative or surgical management will depend on the type of fracture. Smoking cessation is recommended to improve fracture healing and physiotherapy both after surgical and non-surgical treatment. KEY WORDS: fracture, scaphoid, carpal bones, trauma, surgery.