Gunshot Roentgenograms / A Collection of Roentgenograms Taken in Constantinople During the Turko-Balkan War, 1912-1913, Illustrating Some Gunshot Wounds in the Turkish Army

by Clyde S. Ford

UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Wrist.

This plate, presenting a lateral view of the wound shown in [plate 41], shows considerable deformity of the joint, after four months’ treatment, which was even more marked two months later, when the case was discharged with an ankylosis of the wrist joint, contracture of the flexor tendons of the fingers, and slight flexor function of the thumb, permitting apposition with the first finger.

The result, while leaving much to be desired, preserved a function of the hand vastly superior to that of a forearm stump.

The treatment in such cases is always courageously conservative, with amputation only as the extreme measure to save life, with risks of judgment in favor of conservatism.

Corrective measures may be employed after management if the treatment of the infection is successful and when the case passes out of the military category. It is not possible, during a long infection, to maintain better position in such cases.

Plate 43.

Rifle—Plate 43.

UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Metacarpus.