WASHINGTON  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will have to undergo surgery to repair a fractured right elbow, caused when she slipped and fell on her way to a White House meeting on Wednesday evening, the State Department said Thursday.

Mrs. Clinton, 61, was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where doctors determined the break would require an operation, said a State Department spokesman, P. J. Crowley. “She is at home, resting comfortably, or uncomfortably,” he said.

Mr. Crowley said Mrs. Clinton was reading papers and making calls. But she canceled her public schedule, which included an appearance with the actress Angelina Jolie at an event marking World Refugee Day and an awards ceremony at the American Foreign Service Association.

The mishap occurred as Mrs. Clinton was walking to her car in the basement of the State Department. She was headed to a meeting with President Obama, accompanied by the administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard C. Holbrooke.