Bone Fractures, Diagnosis, Treatment,

and Repair

General Fracture Classification

• Open or compound - bone protrudes out of skin

• Closed or simple - bone does not break through skin

• Complete - bone separates into two fragments

• Incomplete - bone does not separate into two fragments

• According to direction of fracture - linear, transverse, oblique

Specific Fracture Classification

• Green-stick fracture - an incomplete fracture in which one side of the bone breaks and the other side bends; happens mainly in children

Specific Fracture Classification

• Comminuted fracture - a fracture in which the bone breaks into more than two fragments; usually caused by severe forces

Specific Fracture Classification

• Impacted fracture - one end of the fracture is forcefully driven into the interior of the other

Specific Fracture Classification

• Stress fracture - fracture without being visibly broken; microscopic fissures in bone that forms without any evidence of injury to other tissues; caused by repeated strenuous activity (ex: running)

Specific Fracture Classification

• Spiral fracture - fracture spirals down the bone; caused by a twisting force that creates an oblique fracture around and through the bone

X-rays and Pictures of Fractures

X-rays and Pictures of Fractures

Symptoms of Bone Fractures

• Pain• Swelling• Loss of function to area• Deformity of a limb• Sometimes there is bruising from

internal bleeding

Diagnosing Bone Fractures

• X-rays of injured area

• Some fractures are difficult to see in an x-ray, so a CT scan, MRI, or other bone scans are used

Treatment of Fractures

• There are two main types of treatments: External fixation - casts Internal fixation - surgery

Wires - used on small fractures Plates - hold two lengths of

bone together with screws Nails or rods - placed in centers

of long bones and held in place with screws

Screws - most common method; used by self or with other items

Internal Fixation Examples

Internal Fixation Examples

Healing of Fractures

• Healing time varies for each individual

• Healing time also depends on: Which bone was broken Severity of the break Age of individual

Bones take longer to heal the older that we get

Bone Repair

When bone breaks, so do the blood vessels that supply the bone

1) a clot forms in the damaged area2) blood vessels and cells invade

the clot and produce a fibrous network and cartilage between broken bones (callus)

3) osteoblasts enter callus and begin forming cancellous bone

4) Cancellous bone is remodeled to form compact and cancellous bone; repair is complete