Citation

Passias BJ, Taylor BC, Myers D, Casey J. Cureus 2021; 13(2): e13530.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Curēus)

DOI

10.7759/cureus.13530

PMID

33786237

Abstract

A 28-year-old male presented to the emergency department with an isolated ulnar shaft fracture secondary to a ballistic injury with a wooden pellet gun. This injury is also known as a "nightstick fracture," which is a common eponym in orthopedic surgery used to describe a fracture of the ulnar shaft. The eponym gained its title for the injury commonly seen when in a defensive position while being attacked with a wooden club. It is widely accepted that this infamous injury was popularized in the 1960s as a sequela of the many race-related riots across the United States. This case details how the nightstick fracture is still prevalent as a result of political protesting today, despite modern-day methods of non-lethal riot control.

Language: en

Keywords

ballistics; nightstick fracture; riot control; ulnar fracture