Principles of Surgical Fracture Care

With over 206 bones accompanying ligaments, joints, muscles, tendons and nerves, the human musculoskeletal system handles several vital functions. Necessarily this complex network provides our body stability with support and movement. Nevertheless with such a complex network, it's natural for problems to occur.

In simple words, fracture is a broken bone. In any number of ways, a bone may be completely or partially fractured. Open, compound, stable, oblique, comminuted and transverse are some common types of fractures. A fracture can be due to number of causes including trauma, overuse and osteoporosis. Depending on the level of injuries, a fracture can be very painful and may also prevent you from moving the injured area. However common symptoms of a fracture include Bruising, Deformity and swelling and tenderness around the injury.

Examination of Fracture

Careful examination will be done by your doctor to assess your overall condition and the extent of the injury as well. He will communicate with you about the cause of injury, symptoms and medical history. Most commonly through x-rays that provide a clear image of bone, fracture is evaluated.

For fractures or broken bones, treatments are available and all follow one basic rule, the broken pieces must be put back into its position and prevented from moving out of place until they are completely healed. May times broken bone ends heal by knitting back together with the new bone being formed.

On the other side, sometimes surgery is performed to treat the fracture. The treatment recommended will depends on the severity of the break. Some common treatments used to treat fractures are:

Functional Cast or Brace: It is not widely used as it is desirable for some but not all fractures. It allows limited or controlled movement of nearby joints.External Fixation: Pins or screws are placed into the broken bone and then bone fragments are repositioned. It is a stabilizing frame that holds the bone in proper position and after appropriate time, this external device is removed.Traction: Usually used to align a bone by a gentle, steady pulling action. It may be used as a preliminary treatment for fractures before other forms of treatment.Cast Immobilization: It is the most common fracture treatment as most of the broken bones can heal successfully once they have been repositioned. It is often known as a plaster or fiberglass cast.Open reduction and internal fixation: It is the surgical treatment in which bone fragments are first repositioned into their normal alignment and then with the help of special screws, held together to the outer surface of the bone.

Fracture Care

The fractures recovery time will depends on the extent of the injury and how well you follow the doctor's advice. It may take several weeks to months for recovery. In addition, specific exercises will help you to restore normal muscle strength and flexibility that may lose during recovery.

After surgical fracture, proper care is essential, therefore help your broken bone heal properly and follow your Orthopaedist's advice.

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