Chapter 4 Selected Musculoskeletal Disease and Disorders, including Trauma and Rheumatic Disorders
Bone Fracture – Types
Zoë Soon
- Closed Fracture: Bone fragments do not pierce skin are are not exposed to the external environment.
- Open Fracture: Bone fragments do pierce skin and are exposed to the external environment
- Transverse Fracture: Bone fracture is perpendicular to the bone shaft and ends are often not displaced, treated with a cast
- Spiral Fracture: Bone fracture is spiral in nature often due to excessive rotational force
- Segmented Fracture: Intramedullary nail used for proper bone alignment
- Comminuted Fracture: Multiple fragments, various treatments shown for realignment of bone required to promote bone healing and reduce chance of bone healing out of position causing deformity
- Impacted Fracture Simple fracture with displacement: Requires external fixation with ring fixator and pins/wires
- Greenstick Fracture: Incomplete fracture (partial thickness fracture), in which fracture doesn’t completely separate bone in two pieces. Often a fracture just affecting the periosteum and cortex on one side of the bone. Greenstick fractures are more common in children rather than adults affecting children, as children’s bones are less ossified. Children’s bones are growing in a process of hyaline cartilage is continuously extending and becoming more and more ossified, creating a bone structure that allows for more bending, than a fully ossified adult bone.
- Oblique Fracture: The bone fracture line is at an angle relative to the shaft of the bone rather than a straight line.
- Compression fracture: Bone cement used to prevent wedge formation and posture change
- Avulsion fracture: Fragment detaches from bone, treated with wire to ensure proper healing
Media Attributions
- Private: Types of Bone Fractures © Greenstick Fracture, Oblique Fracture Contributed by Wikimedia Commons, OpenStax College StatPearls Publishing LLC is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives) license
- Compression-flexion-injury-Type-A1 © Dakheel A Aldakheel is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
- Avulsion_fracture_svg_hariadhi.svg © Hariadhi is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
