A broken bone requires more than a cast and some downtime to fully heal. Contrary to what many people think, fractures can be catastrophic injuries that affect a person for the rest of their life. A severe break can result in chronic pain, disability, and hardships that disrupt the victim’s financial security and personal well-being.
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Types of Broken Bone Injuries
Bone breaks can be painful and traumatic injuries. At first, a broken bone might sound like a superficial injury, but that’s not always the case.
Doctors classify bone breaks by type and severity. A fracture may be classified as:
- Closed – A closed bone fracture occurs when a bone breaks inside the body but does not puncture through the skin.
- Open – An open bone fracture means the bone breaks and a part of it pushes through the skin. These breaks are also called compound fractures. Open fractures are dangerous because they expose the bone and surrounding tissue to dirt, bacteria, and foreign material.
- Complete – Complete bone fractures happen when the break runs through the entire bone. These breaks often separate a bone into two pieces.
- Partial – Partial bone breaks do not go through the entire bone or separate it into pieces.
- Stable – A stable bone fracture means the broken ends of the bone line up correctly and are not out of place or misaligned.
- Displaced – Displaced fractures refer to bone breaks with a gap between the broken ends.
- Stress – Stress fractures are tiny breaks in the bone. They often appear like small cracks, sometimes called hairline fractures.
There are also several terms medical professionals use to describe the complexity of specific types of broken bones, such as:
- Comminuted – A comminuted break means the bone has broken into at least three or more pieces. Bone fragments are almost always present at the fracture site. Shattered bones nearly always require surgical intervention to repair and stabilize the break and to address surrounding tissue damage from the sharp bone fragments.
- Impacted – An impacted fracture happens when the two broken bone ends get smashed or violently pushed together.
- Avulsion – Avulsion bone fractures occur when tendons and ligaments attached to bones rip off a section of the bone.
- Compression – A crushed bone is called a compression fracture. A compression fracture results in a bone that appears broader or flatter than other bones.
- Transverse – Transverse bone fractures are breaks that occur in a straight line across the bone.
- Oblique – An oblique fracture moves diagonally across the bone.
- Spiral – In a spiral fracture, the break occurs in a spiral pattern around the bone, forming rings. These are common in twisting injuries.
- Greenstick – Greenstick bone fractures are partial fractures common in children. They occur when a bone bends to the point that it cracks but does not break into pieces.
