Background: Imaging of the wrist is challenging to both radiologists and orthopedic surgeons. This is 
primarily because of the complex anatomy/functionality of the wrist and also the fact that many 
frequent injuries are sustained to the hands. Ongoing developments in multidetector computed 
tomography (MDCT) technology with its “state of the art" postprocessing capabilities have 
revolution-nized this field. This article pictorially reviews the current clinical role of MDCT imaging 
of wrist in our practice. Objective: The aim of this work is to study the role of multidetector 
computed tomography (MDCT) with multi-planar reconstruction in the assessment of fracture 
patterns around the wrist joint. Patients and methods: Forty patients with fractures around the wrist
(diagnosed both clinically and radiologically through plain radiography in the ER) were referred from
the orthopedic surgery department for CT evaluation. The study was conducted in the Radiology 
department at Minia University Hospital during the period from May to December 2018. All patients 
were enrolled after meeting the inclusion criteria and after having individually written informed 
consent. The standard CT protocol performed for all patients was as follows: By using 16 slice MDCT 
machines. Imaging the wrist with the following parameters: 0.625-mm collimation, a pitch of 0.5625, 
120 kVp, and 200 mA.512x 512 array field-of-view (FOV), and 1 pitch factor. No patient preparation 
was needed as no contrast media was indicated in the study. Removal of metallic objects was a 
routine procedure to avoid metallic artifacts. Results: most of the patients were below the age of 37 
years, 67.5% of the studied patients were males and the left side is more affected than the right side. 
The most common cause of fractures around the wrist is falling on outstretched hand which was 
statistically superior to other mechanisms (75%). Radiography and CT detect all cases of distal radius 
fractures while in ulna fractures radiography sensitivity to fracture was 88.2%, in scaphoid fractures 
sensitivity was 50% while in capitate fracture radiography cannot detect fracture 0% sensitivity. So, 
CT has the upper hand in the detection of occult fractures. Conclusion: Wrist fractures and 
dislocations may be overlooked on conventional radiographs. CT with multiplanar and volumetric 
reformation can be a useful technique to demonstrate occult carpal bone fractures. Also, it can 
illustrate the complexity and extent of fractures as well as joint dislocations.