Which fracture is described as a distal radius fracture with dorsal angulation and a dinner fork appearance?

Which fracture is described as a distal radius fracture with dorsal angulation and a dinner fork appearance?

• A. Smith Fracture
• B. Scaphoid Fracture
• C. Colles Fracture
• D. Barton’s Fracture

Answer: (C)

This is a Colles fracture. It’s a fracture of the distal radius with dorsal (posterior) angulation of the distal fragment after a fall on an outstretched hand, which creates the classic dinner fork deformity seen on the lateral wrist X-ray. The dorsal tilt and radial shortening give that fork-like look. This pattern is especially common in older adults with osteoporosis. By contrast, a Smith fracture has the opposite, volar (anterior) angulation from a fall on a flexed wrist, often described as a garden-spade deformity; a scaphoid fracture involves the scaphoid bone itself, not the distal radius, and Barton’s fracture is an intra-articular distal radius fracture with carpal dislocation.

This is a Colles fracture. It’s a fracture of the distal radius with dorsal (posterior) angulation of the distal fragment after a fall on an outstretched hand, which creates the classic dinner fork deformity seen on the lateral wrist X-ray. The dorsal tilt and radial shortening give that fork-like look. This pattern is especially common in older adults with osteoporosis.

By contrast, a Smith fracture has the opposite, volar (anterior) angulation from a fall on a flexed wrist, often described as a garden-spade deformity; a scaphoid fracture involves the scaphoid bone itself, not the distal radius, and Barton’s fracture is an intra-articular distal radius fracture with carpal dislocation.