2. 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
3. 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
4. Specific Fracture Classification
• Comminuted fracture
- a fracture in which
the bone breaks into
more than two
fragments; usually
caused by severe
forces
6. 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)
7. 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
10. Symptoms of Bone Fractures
• Pain
• Swelling
• Loss of function to area
• Deformity of a limb
• Sometimes there is bruising from internal
bleeding
11. 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
12. 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
15. 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
16. Bone Repair
When bone breaks, so do the blood
vessels that supply the bone
1) a clot forms in the damaged area
2) 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