Broken Finger
Medical Author: John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Broken finger introduction
Fingers are easily injured, and broken fingers are some of the most common
traumatic injuries seen in an emergency room. Finger fractures may account for
up to 10% of all bone fractures. Because fingers are used for
many everyday
activities, they are at higher risk than other parts of the body for traumatic injury, including sports injuries, workplace injuries, and other accidents.
Understanding the basic anatomy of the hand and fingers is useful in
understanding different types of finger injuries, broken fingers, and how some
treatments differ from others.
The hand is divided into three sections: 1) wrist, 2) palm, and
3) fingers.
- The wrist has eight bones, which move together to allow the
vast ranges of motion of the wrist.
- The palm or mid-hand is comprised of the
metacarpal bones. The metacarpal bones have muscular attachments and bridge the wrist to the
individual fingers. These bones frequently are injured with direct
trauma such
as a crush injury, or most commonly, a punching injury.
- The fingers are the most frequently injured part of the hand.
Fingers are constructed of ligaments (strong supportive tissue connecting
bone to bone), tendons (attachment tissue from muscle to bone), and three
phalanges (bones). There are no muscles in the fingers;
and fingers move by the pull of
forearm muscles on the tendons.
- The three bones in each finger are named according to their relationship to the palm of the hand. The
first bone, closest to the palm, is the proximal phalange; the second
bone is the middle phalange; and the smallest and farthest from the hand is the
distal phalange.
The thumb does not have a middle phalange.
- The knuckles are joints formed by the bones of the fingers and are commonly
injured or dislocated with trauma to the hand.
- The first and largest knuckle is the junction
between the hand and the fingers - the metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP). This
joint commonly is injured in closed-fist activities and is commonly known as a
boxer's fracture.
- The next knuckle out toward the
fingernail is the proximal inter-phalangeal
joint (PIP). This joint may be dislocated in sporting events when a ball or
object directly strikes the finger.
- The farthest joint of the finger is the distal inter-phalangeal joint (DIP).
Injuries to this joint usually involve a fracture or torn tendon
(avulsion) injury.
What are the causes of a broken finger?
Traumatic injury is the main cause of broken fingers. Most commonly,
traumatic injury to the finger occurs from playing sports, workplace injuries, falls, or other accidents.
Next: What are the symptoms of a broken finger? »
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Broken Finger
Fracture »
Introduction to fracture
Bones form the skeleton of the body and allow the body to be supported
against gravity and to move and function in the world. Bones also protect some
body parts, and the bone marrow is the production center for blood products.
Bone is not a stagnant organ. It is the body's reservoir of calcium and is
always undergoing change under the influence of hormones.
Parathyroid hormone
increases blood calcium levels by leeching calcium from bone, while
calcitonin
has the opposite effect, allowing bone to accept calcium from the blood.
What causes a fracture?
When outside forces are applied to bone it has the potential to fail.
Fractures occur when bone cannot withstand those outside forces. Fracture, break,
or crack all mean the same thing. One term is not better or worse than another.
The integrity of the bone has been lost and the bone structure fails.
Broken bones hurt for a variety of r...
Read the Fracture article »
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