Unusual wrist injuries in India

Abstract

We describe fives cases of an unusual type of injury to the wrist which has been seen in Sikhs, an ethnic population in India. It is caused by entrapment of the kara, an iron bangle, which is traditionally worn as one of five compulsory religious symbols. The injuries were an open transtriquetral palmar perilunar dislocation, a double palmar radiocarpal dislocation, and a compound, grossly displaced anterior Galeazzi fracture-dislocation. Two cases had unclassified injuries.