Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by JAYASEKERA, N.
Right arrow Articles by COMPSON, J. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by JAYASEKERA, N.
Right arrow Articles by COMPSON, J. P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Articles

Physical Examination of the Carpal Bones by Orthopaedic and Accident and Emergency Surgeons

N. JAYASEKERA
N. AKHTAR
J. P. COMPSON

From the Department of orthopaedics, King’s College Hospital, London, UK

Correspondence: Mr Narlaka Jayasekera, 80 Davenport Road, London SE6 2AX, UK. Tel.:/fax: +208 695 0205. E-mail: akalan{at}nalaka.fsnet.co.uk

Our aim was to test knowledge of carpal bone surface anatomy among orthopaedic and accident and emergency surgeons. A survey of 58 surgeons was conducted. Each was asked to palpate seven points on five commonly injured carpal bones. Eight surgeons declined to participate. Five of the remaining 50 correctly palpated all surface markings. Six failed to accurately palpate even a single point. The scaphoid waist and trapezial ridge were accurately palpated by 47 surgeons. The median score for all participants was 3 correctly identified points. The majority of orthopaedic and accident and emergency surgeons do not perform an accurate physical examination of the carpal bones. The ancient art of history taking, precise physical examination and elucidation of a confident diagnosis is at risk of being replaced with tentative diagnoses and imaging techniques that are expensive and time consuming. We believe that basic anatomical teaching is inadequate.

Key Words: carpal bones • carpal bone fracture • carpal bone injuries • wrist injuries • physical examination • anatomical teaching

Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume), Vol. 30, No. 2, 204-206 (2005)
DOI: 10.1016/J.JHSB.2004.11.004
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?