I had never seen an injury like this before or knew anybody who had experienced it. Of course I've always been interested in fitness and studied a lot of biology during my education but this was a new topic. Read more below if you want to know what I found during my research (with links to detailed information) and mental prep the day before the surgery...
Did I mention that this injury occurred in Québec? Without my trilingual girlfriend and a few months of learning French I would've been screwed. Here are some helpful links that I found which explained more about hand injuries and my potential prognosis. Medscape Overview of Perilunate Fracture and Dislocations Radiopaedia Perilunate Disclocation Bonefix.co.nz Surgical Management Approach of Perilunate Dislocation Medscape Outcome and Prognosis Here were some key facts I found about my injury. "Perilunate dislocations and perilunate fracture dislocations are potentially devastating closed wrist injuries that are often missed on initial imaging. These injuries involve dislocation of the carpus relative to the lunate which remains in normal alignment with the distal radius." "Overall, carpal dislocations account for less than 10% of all wrist injuries." "Despite treatment, long-term risk of degenerative arthritis is high (~60%)." "Initial gentle, closed reduction is performed, followed by delayed open reduction, ligamentous and bony repair, and internal fixation. Despite optimum treatment, this injury carries a guarded prognosis, with permanent partial loss of wrist motion and grip strength". I was pretty disheartened to read all of this but wanted to be prepared for what I was getting into. It was also pretty clear after doing research that this injury while serious, is not super common. There is always room to improve the outcome statistics as a single person who is determined. We decided that I needed some distraction so we went to go see a movie, which is not something I do very often. The featured film was Jurassic World. It was mediocre but I was able to get comfortable with my wrist elevated and it took my mind off of things for a while. Lesson Learned Today: If you want to sleep take your pain medication and keep your injury elevated. Pain management is IMPORTANT. Also go take your mind of it by doing something distracting. | |