Extensor tendon involvement in Smith's and Galeazzi's fractures

Abstract

Extensor tendon involvement in three Smith's and two Galeazzi's fractures are reported. In two cases of previous Smith's fracture, the extensor indicis proprius tendon had been entrapped and ruptured in one case, and in the other the extensor digitorum communis tendon of the index was pierced by the fragment. Both showed a severe tenodesis effect on the index finger and thumb. In a new case of Smith's fracture, long extensor tendons of the fingers and thumb had been trapped beneath a dorsally displaced third fragment making closed reduction impossible. In the two cases of Galeazzi's fracture; in one the extensor carpi ulnaris tendon was trapped between the dorsally displaced ulnar head and the avulsed styloid process and in the other, the extensor digiti minimi tendon was caught beneath the radial border of the dorsally dislocated ulnar head.