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Fracture |
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Definition
A
fracture is a complete or incomplete break in a bone
resulting from the application of excessive force.
Causes
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Fractures
are usually due to injury.
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Fractures
that occur spontaneously, caused by a disease, are
called pathologic fractures. They might occur from
loss of mineral from the bone, loss of supporting
substance in the bone, or crowding-out of the normal
bone tissue by other tissue that doesn't belong
there, such as a small bone cyst.
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Pathologic fractures often occur in a part of the
bone that is not a stress point, that hardly ever
gets fractured. In children, most pathologic
fractures are caused by benign diseases.
Symptoms
Pain,
a deformity at the fracture site, or loss of function of
that body part.
Screening and Diagnostics
Risk Factors
Treatment
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Fractures
usually are splinted or casted to place the injured
part at-rest, avoiding movement of the fracture
pieces while they are healing. If the fracture
caused a deformity and the fracture pieces are out
of alignment, a cast is a way of holding the pieces
in-place after the physician lines up the pieces
correctly.
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In some
minor fractures where a deformity does not have to
be corrected, such as a minor fracture of a toe,
some simple method might be used to hold the pieces
in-place. "Buddy-taping," one such method, tapes
the fractured toe to an adjacent toe in a special
way. This really does not prevent movement of the
pieces at the fracture site, but it limits the
movement.
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Surgery
is necessary in some cases, to correct a fracture or
clean out material that may cause infection.
Complications
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Non-healing or delayed healing
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Deformity
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Infection
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