Boxer’s Fracture

The chief complaint was hand pain. The patient had an obvious Boxer’s Fracture.

A Boxer’s Fracture is a fracture of the Fifth Metacarpal in the hand that is typically obtained from punching something. A wall is the typical victim. The excuse that I typically heard was, “I had to punch something. I punched the wall instead of her.” My typical response was, “No. You did not have to punch something. You chose to punch something.”

This patient was a middle-aged man. I asked, “What happened?’

He replied, “I punched a cow.”

That stunned me. I asked, “Why?”

He said, “She was being dumb.”

I had no response.