BONE FRACTURES

By: M. PetersonBiology 120 WW10

Spring 2014

What is a Fracture? Definition

A fracture is a complete or incomplete break in a bone resulting from the application of excessive force. Description

A fracture usually results from traumatic injury to bones causing the continuity of bone tissues or bony cartilage to be disrupted or broken. Fracture

classifications include simple, compound, incomplete and complete.

Three Types of Fractures

Comminuted Fracture

Greenstick Fracture

Impacted Fracture

Comminuted Fracture Comminuted fracture is a very serious case

of fractured bones. In this condition, the affected bone is broken into three or more pieces. For this reason, it is often termed as a multi-fragmentary fracture. The fracture can be either open or closed. In closed types, the skin is not broken, but in the open state the skin breaks and the bone protrudes out. Comminuted fracture treatment for open fractures are more difficult as it is prone to infections.

Comminuted Fracture

Greenstick Fracture

A greenstick fracture occurs when a bone bends and cracks, instead of breaking completely into separate pieces. This type of broken bone most commonly occurs in children because their bones are softer and more flexible than are the bones of adults.

 

Greenstick Fracture

Impacted Fracture Bones are very hard and can tolerate most powerful

impacts, certain traumatic injuries may cause cracking or breaking of the bones. Bending or twisting of bones at an awkward angle or a collision with a harder substance may lead to cracking or breaking of the bones. Injuries resulting out of fall or collisions are mostly responsible for bone fractures. Depending upon the degree of fracture and extent of damage to other body parts, fractures are classified into different types of bone fractures. Sometimes, a single serious injury may cause the bone to break into several fragments. This is called comminuted impacted fracture. When these broken fragments are driven into other broken bone fragments, then it leads to impacted bone fracture.

Impacted Fracture

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