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Similarly, our patient has suffered abrasive
forces, during the collision, over the upper right
The blunt trauma in this case has led to a arm. This highlights the non-penetrative nature
middle comminuted fracture of the humerus; of the injury as blood is visibly pooled beneath
the bony link between the lower and upper arm the skin of the upper arm from its capillaries that
is severed, effective weight transmission is eventually become basilic and cephalic veins.
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Swelling
Fluid (usually lymph; can be blood) accumulation
in the extracellular space due to infection or
trauma causes swelling.
Our patient has suffered major soft tissue
trauma especially due to the sharp edges of the
broken humeral shaft as well as the displaced
fragment that possibly pierced through the more
medially positioned long head, triceps brachii (as
observed from the radiograph). It must be noted
that the muscles are not visible in the Tingling and Numbness in right little and
radiograph but it can be deduced with
ring finger
knowledge of anatomy. Moreover, since
Tingling is the prickly sensation experienced
neutrophils extravasate to site of trauma from
commonly due to nerve compression or
post-capillary bed venules we suggested that
pinching. Numbness refers to the state of being
the swelling is due to fluid leakage from the
devoid of physical sensation also caused by
brachial vein which is a deep vein the tributaries
compression.
of which drain the triceps brachii and biceps
brachii, the muscles likely to be affected by the
edges of humerus and the fragment
respectively.
Tenderness
This is the pain felt when the physician or the
examiner at the orthopaedic ward palpates
bodily structures in order to locate a certain
problem unlike the pain perceived
proprioceptively mentioned earlier. It is often
experienced with numbness, swelling and The region of the hand mentioned in the case is
redness. given sensory supply by the ulnar nerve which
In this case, our patient is experiencing swelling runs medially in the arm to the humerus and
and tenderness in the same area leading to a passes behind the medial epicondyle down to
possible suggestion that the swelling is the forearm and hand. This led to a strong
compressing the medial cutaneous nerve which indication that the ulnar nerve was affected
is causing pain in the medial middle aspect of possibly due to the fragment of humerus and
the upper arm. The site of swelling where the the subsequent swelling in the medial aspect of
fragment is lodged strengthens this suggestion: the arm where ulnar nerve runs.
Little and ring finger deformity
The ulnar nerve apart from sensory innervation,
gives motor innervation to the muscles of the
forearm like flexor digitorum profundus, and
intrinsic muscles of the hands like the
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lumbricals. These intrinsic muscles of the hand nerve is damaged and a possible reason for its
flex the hand. On the dorsum of the hand are damage is not promptly splinting the hand in an
the extensor tendons connected to the intrinsic-plus position (shown below) after a
extensors of the hand and digits. crush injury, whereas our patient was given a
The region of the hand mentioned in the case U-slab.
showed hyperextension at the
metacarpophalangeal joints and flexion at the
proximal and distal interphalangeal joints,
suggesting paralysis which is why the patient
cannot move these digits. In his article, Paralysis
of the Ulnar Nerve and Management of its
Deformity, Dr. Valone mentions that if the ulnar
injury occurs below the elbow then the flexor
digitorum profundus is given its supply by the
ulnar nerve but the deep flexors are cut off from
its supply; this produces an unequal pull on This supports the claim that such a mode of
these joints. When the lumbricals are paralyzed, injury was caused, however a crush injury would
the metacarpophalangeal joint is forced into have shown other important clinical aspects
extension by the extensor tendons of the hand such as profuse bleeding which our patient does
and this claw like position is maintained by the not present with.
active flexor digitorum profundus. Dr. Valone
also notes that a combined median and ulnar
nerve palsy produce a more characteristic claw Conclusion
hand as observed in our patient. After careful consideration of each piece of
information in relation to our patient’s condition
we have concluded that our initial hypothesis
stands null, a crush injury is unlikely considering
the radiograph of our patient who presents with
a closed injury without any bleeding. It is likely
that the ulnar nerve has been damaged by the
fragment of the humerus. Median nerve damage
is dismissed because there is no tingling or
numbness described in the pointer or middle
finger. Radial nerve is intact. Medial cutaneous
nerve possibly damaged.
Bibliography
Lane, R. and Nallamothu, S., 2020. Claw Hand. [online]
Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at:
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507781/>
[Accessed 8 May 2020].
https://thejns.org/view/journals/j-neurosurg/10/2/article-p138.
xml
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3419694/
In their article, Claw Hand, Lane and Nallamothu Gray’s Anatomy
Last’s Anatomy
note that such deformities arise when the ulnar
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