Bone fractures: a bad fall, a hard blow, an automobile collision, a sports injury, an underlying medical condition eg OSTEOPOROSIS can result in a broken bone. There are varying degrees of fractures. Here are definitions and causes for the main type of fractures.

There are partial (incomplete). Here the break across the bone is incomplete. Incomplete means the bone is broken in two pieces. There is closed or simple fracture. The broken bone doesn’t protrude through the skin.

Open or compound fracture: The broken bone protrudes through the skin. There is also comminuted fracture. The bone is splintered at the broken area and many smaller fragments of the bone are found between the two main pieces.

Greenstick: This occurs only in children and is defined by having one side of the bone break while the other side just bend, often seen on the radius or forearm bone.

Spira is when a breaking force twisted the bone apart. Transverse fracture occurs at the right angles to the bone.

Impacted fracture is when one fragment is forcibly driven into the other. colles fracture: This is a fracture of the distal end of the radius[wrist] and the fragment is displaced posteriorly (read behind).

Lastly there is pott’s fracture: This is a fracture of the distal (read lower portion of leg) end of fibula with serious injury of the distal tibia articulation.

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