FRACTURES

What is a fracture?

• A fracture is description for a broken bone

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What are the types of fracture?

• Transverse - a straight horizontal break across a bone 

• Spiral - a twisting type fracture

• Comminuted - a fracture with multiple bone fragments at the site of the break

• Segmental - a fracture where there is more than one fracture in the same bone 

• Peri-articular - a fracture around or extending into a joint

• Peri-prosthetic - a fracture typically around an artificial joint replacement

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What are the principles of fracture management?

• The aim of treating any fracture is to keep the bone stable so that the body's biology can heal the broken bone

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How can fractures be stabilised?

• Fractures can be stabilised with casts, splints, internal metalwork such as plates and screws or external metalwork such as an external fixator

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How do you choose how to stabilise a fracture?

• All management decisions are made in patient centred, shared manner. Some fractures are amenable to stabilisation with a cast or splint, whereas some are more amenable to surgical stabilisation