B777 first officer is informed during a bathroom break that a flight attendant injured her elbow whe...

Narrative:

I went back for a bathroom break approximately four hours into the flight. While talking with; a flight attendant working the forward galley; she mentioned that she hurt her elbow. At the time she had a bag of ice on it. I remember her saying that she hit it on a galley door. My interpretation was that she hit it on on open galley cart or container door. I didn't get any idea that she fell or that it was flight/turbulence related. Her elbow had a bruise and was very swollen. She had it mostly immobilized and had ice on it. She seemed to be in minor pain and had access to aspirin or motrin. I suggested that when she was able it might help to keep it elevated. Flight planning had forecast some moderate turbulence and we experienced that level for extended periods of time. I don't recall anything more severe than that. I don't think her injury was turbulence related. She went to the hospital and dead headed back with us the next day. I was notified today that her injury was a fracture and therefore warranted further inquiry.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 First Officer is informed during a bathroom break that a Flight Attendant injured her elbow when she hit it on a galley door. The injured Flight Attendant deadheads home after seeking medical attention for the elbow which turns out to be fractured and caused by turbulence.

Narrative: I went back for a bathroom break approximately four hours into the flight. While talking with; a Flight Attendant working the forward galley; she mentioned that she hurt her elbow. At the time she had a bag of ice on it. I remember her saying that she hit it on a galley door. My interpretation was that she hit it on on open galley cart or container door. I didn't get any idea that she fell or that it was flight/turbulence related. Her elbow had a bruise and was very swollen. She had it mostly immobilized and had ice on it. She seemed to be in minor pain and had access to aspirin or motrin. I suggested that when she was able it might help to keep it elevated. Flight planning had forecast some moderate turbulence and we experienced that level for extended periods of time. I don't recall anything more severe than that. I don't think her injury was turbulence related. She went to the hospital and dead headed back with us the next day. I was notified today that her injury was a fracture and therefore warranted further inquiry.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1207224
Time
Date	201409
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 225 Flight Crew Total 12300 Flight Crew Type 4800
Events
Anomaly	Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

B777 first officer is informed during a bathroom break that a flight attendant injured her elbow when she hit it on a galley door. The injured flight attendant deadheads home after seeking medical attention for the elbow which turns out to be fractured and caused by turbulence.