Isolated Capitate Fracture with Dorsal Dislocation of Proximal Pole: A Case Report

Fractures of the capitate are a rare injury to the carpus and account for only 1.3% of all carpal fractures [11]. Most of these fractures occur in association with additional carpal injury, particularly scaphoid fractures. Isolated fractures of the capitate comprise only 0.3% of carpal injuries [11]. Harrigan [8] reported on the first case of an isolated capitate fracture in 1908. Isolated capitate fractures are often non-displaced [3]. Dislocation of the proximal fragment is rare—two cases of isolated capitate fracture with a volarly dislocated fragment [7, 13] and one case of isolated capitate fracture with a dorsally dislocated fragment [12] have been reported to date. We report a similar case of dorsal dislocation of the proximal pole of the fractured capitate. This case is unusual due to significant displacement, i.e. the proximal pole was extruded from the joint capsule to lie within subcutaneous plane.