By Dr. Rob LaPrade

http://drrobertlaprademd.com

Question: My son was skiing last week and broke his radius. I was informed that it was a stable fracture. Is there any way that he can continue to play PeeWee hockey this year?

Answer: Wrist fractures are the most common fractures in PeeWee and Bantam hockey players. When they involve the end of the larger of the two wrist forearm bones, the radius, these fractures often are near or through the growth plate of this bone. The bone on the end of the radius is also relatively weak in this age group and can often “buckle” on impact.

In those fractures which are stable, and just need to be immobilized, we often can fit a cast around a player’s hockey stick to allow them to continue to play hockey. We usually wait until the first cast change when the swelling from the fracture is decreased to do this. The total time that these stable fractures usually need to be casted and protected is usually between 4-6 weeks.

Some wrist fractures are very angulated initially, involving both the radius and ulna bones. These types of wrist fractures need to be set back into place. We will often have them heal until the fracture ends become sticky for 2-3 weeks prior to allowing a patient to be casted and then have the cast molded so that they can play hockey. It is very important in these circumstances that the X-rays demonstrate some early healing so that we know that it is safe for the player to resume on-ice activities.

The same rules usually hold for the resumption of stickhandling and other shooting drills. It is best to make sure that the initial swelling is resolved from the fracture and that any fracture which had to be rebroken into place from an angulated position has evidence of healing prior to putting significant stress on it so that one does not end up with a permanently angulated bone.

When the time comes that one can be fitted for a cast for hockey, it is important to work with one’s physician or cast technician to ensure that the cast both does its job to protect the fracture and also allows one to play hockey. We ask our athletes to bring their stick and their hockey glove in for cast changes to make sure that the cast is properly molded around the stick and at the same time to make sure that the cast will fit into their glove safely.

So to answer your question, yes, one can play hockey if one has a stable or healing wrist fracture. A well-fitted and formed protective cast can both protect the fracture and allow one to safely hold a stick to resume on-ice activities.

Robert F. LaPrade, M.D., Ph.D. is a complex knee surgeon at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. He is very active in research for the prevention and treatment of ice hockey injuries. Dr. LaPrade is also the Chief Medical Research Officer at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute. Formerly, he was the team physician for the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team and a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the U of M. If you have a question for the Hockey Doc, e-mail it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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