Chauffeur's fracture, also known as Hutchinson fracture, is a type of oblique fracture of the

radial styloid process The radial styloid process is a projection of bone on the lateral surface of the distal radius bone. Structure The radial styloid process is found on the lateral surface of the distal radius bone. It extends obliquely downward into a strong, ...

in the

forearm The forearm is the region of the upper limb between the elbow and the wrist. The term forearm is used in anatomy to distinguish it from the arm, a word which is most often used to describe the entire appendage of the upper limb, but which in ...

. The injury is typically caused by compression of the

scaphoid The scaphoid bone is one of the carpal bones of the wrist. It is situated between the hand and forearm on the thumb side of the wrist (also called the lateral or radial side). It forms the radial border of the carpal tunnel. The scaphoid bone ...

bone of the hand against the styloid process of the

distal radius The radius or radial bone is one of the two large bones of the forearm, the other being the ulna. It extends from the lateral side of the elbow to the thumb side of the wrist and runs parallel to the ulna. The ulna is usually slightly longer than ...

. It can be caused by falling onto an outstretched hand. Treatment is often open reduction and internal fixation, which is surgical realignment of the bone fragments and fixation with pins, screws, or plates. __TOC__

History

Jonathan Hutchinson Sir Jonathan Hutchinson (23 July 1828 – 23 June 1913), was an English surgeon, ophthalmologist, dermatologist, venereologist, and pathologist. Life He was born in Selby, Yorkshire, of Quaker parents and educated in the local school. Then he ...

first described Chauffeur's fracture in 1866. The term "Chauffeur's fracture" originated from

Just Lucas-Championnière Just-Marie-Marcellin Lucas-Championnière (15 August 1843, in Avilly-Saint-Léonard – 22 October 1913, in Paris) was a French surgeon. From 1860 he studied medicine in Paris, receiving his medical doctorate in 1870 and his Agrégation in Fra ...

in 1904. The name originates from early

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to specia ...

s, who sustained these injuries when the

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

back-fired while the chauffeur was hand-cranking to start the car. The back-fire forced the crank backward into the chauffeur's palm and produced the characteristic styloid fracture.

References

External links

{{Medical resources , ICD10 = S52.5 , AO = 23-B1.1 , MeSH1 = 68011885 Bone fractures