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Fracture
Medical Questions » Fracture
| Name: Fracture |
| Also known as: Broken Bone |
| A break in any bone in the body. There are several different types of fracture:
• hair line fracture: tiny crack part way through a bone
• greenstick fracture: abnormal flexion in a child' s soft bone wrinkling one surface only
• simple fracture: a single break across the whole width of a bone
• avulsion fracture: a small fragment of bone is pulled off at the point where a muscle, tendon or ligament attaches
• impacted fracture: the forcible shortening of a bone as one fragment of bone is pushed into another
• comminuted fracture: two, three or more breaks in the one bone
• depressed fracture: a piece of bone (often in the skull) is pushed in below the level of the surrounding bone
• compound fracture: the skin over the fracture is broken by a bone end
• pathological fracture: a break in a bone bone weakened by osteoporosis (see separate entry), cancer or other disease |
Causes of Fracture
Abnormal violence, pressure, force or twisting applied to a bone. |
Symptoms of Fracture
Pain that is worse with use of the bone, swelling and tenderness at the site of the fracture, bruising over or below the fracture, loss of function of the limb or area. |
Tests for Fracture
X-rays show most fractures, but sometimes a CT scan or bone scan is necessary. |
Treatment for Fracture
The bone fragments must be aligned as perfectly as possible after manipulation under an anesthetic if necessary, and fixed in position with plaster, pins, plates, or screws. It is normally necessary to prevent movement in the joints at either end of the broken bone. The exact treatment will vary considerably from one bone to another, with some fractures requiring minimal fixation (eg. fracture of humerus — upper arm bone), while others require major surgery (eg. fracture of hip — see separate entry).
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Complications of Fracture of its treatment
Movement at the fracture site may cause failure to heal, chronic pain may occur at fracture site, fractures requiring surgery and compound fractures are susceptible to infection, death of bone tissue can occur in small fragments. |
Likely Outcome of Fracture
The majority of fractures can be successfully treated with an eventual return to full function of the bone. |
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