Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Urgent Care Diagnosis and Management of Distal Radial (Colles) Fractures

Urgent Message: Fractures of the distal radius, commonly referred to as Colles fractures, most often occur after a fall onto an outstretched hand. Their immediate urgent care management may require only splinting or a same day emergency department visit depending on certain factors. Citation: Bunstine JL, Hartz C. Urgent Care Diagnosis and Management of Distal Radial (Colles) Fractures. J Urgent Care Med. 2024; 19(1):15-19 Editor’s Note: While the images presented here are authentic, the patient …

Management of Distal Radial Fractures

Urgent message: Distal radial fractures in children can often be treated by non-orthopedists without the need for full casting in an urgent care center that can perform simple splinting, thus sparing hospital referral. Deena R. Zimmerman, MD, MPH, IBCLC, Scott Fields, MD, and Nahum Kovalski, BSc, MDCM Introduction Wrist fracture is a com-mon injury in children. Many of these fractures are buckle or torus fractures. Traditionally, treatment for buckle fractures has been short-arm casting for …

Management of Distal Radial Fractures in Young Patients by Non-Orthopedists in an Urgent Care Center

Wrist fracture is a common injury in children. 1 Many of these fractures are buckle or torus fractures. Traditionally, treatment for buckle fractures has been short-arm casting for two to four weeks.2 However, questions have been raised as to the need for such treatment. A number of recent studies have indicated that many such fractures may be managed without casting by the use of either elastic bandaging alone3 or splints.4-6 Plaster splints can easily be …