Broken bones occur in many degrees of severity. Bone fractures are broken bones classified in adults according to direction of the break and the alignment of the bone. Bone fractures are either open or closed. An open bone fracture or break means that the bone broke through the skin, causing an open wound. A closed bone fracture means that the bone did not break through the skin when it fractured.
Transverse Fractures
Transverse fractures are breaks that occur straight across the bone regardless of the severity of the break. The least severe transverse fracture is a transverse hairline fracture. According to Robert H. Shmerling, M.D., writing for Aetna InteliHealth, hairline fractures do not change the shape or position of the bone and might even be difficult to detect using X-ray technology. The most severe transverse fracture severs the bone into two or more parts and is easily detected using X-ray technology. A green stick fracture is when a bone is broken on one side of the bone only and can be transverse.
Comminuted Fractures
The classification of a bone fracture when the bone breaks into more than two fragments is comminuted fracture. The comminuted fracture is sometimes confused with a compound fracture, even though the classification for a compound fracture occurs when the bone breaks through the skin. According to the "Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery," the remedies for comminuted fractures include either use of pins and/or plaster, depending on the location and severity of the fracture. The comminuted fracture is unstable. The patient might require the use of anesthesia to accommodate the remedy.
Segmental Fractures
The term or classification for several large fractures of the same bone is segmental fracture. Segmental fractures might be complex and present physicians with a challenge to help the bone repair itself to its original state. According to B. Matthew Hicks, M.D., in for the "Journal of Orthopaedics," treatments using bone graphs using human bone morphogenetic protein has been successful. Although the remedies for treatment of segmental fractures vary according to the location of the fractures and other factors, the method of bone graphs has the ability to heal critical bone breaks in a number of patients.
References
- Aetna InteliHealth: Breaking Down Bone Myths
- "The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery"; Pins and Plaster Treatment of Comminuted Fractures of the Distal End of the Radius; D.P. Green; April 1975
- "Journal of Orthopaedics"; Segmental Bone Defects Treated Using Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein; Niles D. Schwartz and B. Matthew Hicks; 2006
