Spaghetti wrist describes lacerating injuries of the volar forearm between the wrist crease and the flexor musculotendinous junctions.
Number of potential structures that may be injured: 16 (Katz)
Number of structures that need to be damaged to qualify: varies from >= 3 to >= 10 (Weinzweig reports an average of 7.8 structures)
Most frequently injured structures (Weinzweig et al):
(1) flexor carpi ulnaris
(2) flexor digitorum superficialis
(3) median nerve
(4) ulnar nerve
(5) ulnar artery
Mechanism of injury:
(1) knife
(2) axe or chainsaw
(3) suicide attempt
(4) broken glass
(5) snowboard
(6) industrial accident
Factors affecting outcome:
(1) number of cuts
(2) number of structures involved
(3) mangling of tissues (vs clean cut)
(4) significant nerve injury
(5) extent of environmental contamination
(6) quality and promptness of care
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Specialty: Surgery, orthopedic, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Surgery, general
