What is a chauffeur fracture?

What is a chauffeur fracture?

A chauffeur fracture is a broken bone near your wrist. There are two long bones in your forearm: the radius and the ulna. A chauffeur fracture occurs when the pointed tip at the end of your radius (radial styloid process) breaks.

A chauffeur fracture is a type of distal radius fracture, which means the break is at the end of the radius bone. A chauffeur fracture also extends into your wrist joint. When a fracture crosses into a joint, providers call it an intraarticular fracture.

Chauffeur fractures have many names, including radial styloid fractures, Hutchinson fractures and backfire fractures.