A patient presents with persistent pain and tenderness in the wrist after a fall. What condition should be suspected?

In the case of a patient experiencing persistent pain and tenderness in the wrist following a fall, a scaphoid fracture should be suspected, especially since the scaphoid is one of the most frequently fractured carpal bones due to its anatomical location. When a person falls onto an outstretched hand, the impact can particularly stress the scaphoid, leading to a fracture.

The pain from a scaphoid fracture often does not manifest immediately and can be subtle, typically localized in the anatomical snuffbox or along the radial side of the wrist. Due to the scaphoid's precarious blood supply, if the fracture is not diagnosed and treated promptly, it can lead to complications such as avascular necrosis.

While a distal radius fracture is also common in falls and could cause similar symptoms, it typically presents with more obvious deformity or swelling at the distal forearm. A wrist sprain could also cause pain and tenderness, but it generally lacks the specific localization of pain seen with a scaphoid fracture. Similarly, a ligament tear may lead to wrist instability and could cause pain, but it would usually present with different symptoms, such as joint instability or a specific mechanism of injury that indicates tearing of soft tissue rather than a bone fracture