Broken fragments meaning crack#

Again, this depends somewhat on which bone (and sometimes which part of the bone) is fractured. In general children tend to heal more rapidly than adults and upper limb injuries tend to unite more quickly than lower limb injuries. This also depends on the location of the fracture and the age of the patient. If the fragments of bone that has a normal healing potential are separated by a long distance (which usually means significant damage to the healing periosteum), they may also fail to heal.įor healing of bone (union) to occur, not only must the ends of the bone be nearby, but the fragments usually need to be immobilised for sufficient time for the healing process to get under way. These include the scaphoid bone in the wrist, the neck of the talus in the ankle and the shaft of the tibia. Some bones are also known to have a poor blood supply and may be more prone to non-union. Those with diabetes are also known to have a reduced rate of healing fractures. When bone does not heal in a timely manner for what is expected it is called a “non-union”. In many cases, smoking may stop healing altogether. In particular, smoking tobacco in any form will essentially hinder the cells responsible for converting the blood clot into calcified tissue and will reduce the rate of healing of a fracture. This is a biological process which is unable to be accelerated, generally, however, in some instances the healing process can be slowed down beyond what is normally seen. With time this basic bone is then matured into more normal bone over a few more months. When the bone breaks, the bone marrow bleeds and forms a clot (over a few hours) which is gradually converted by cells in the periosteum into fibrous scar tissue initially (over a few weeks) and this is later converted into calcified tissue (a few weeks or months later) – i.e. Most fractures tend to mend best if the surfaces of the broken bone are very near each other and the fine tissue lining the bone (periosteum) is relatively intact. stress fractures in the metatarsals of the feet or in the lower end of the tibia). They are frequently seen in the lower limbs of athletes who run or jump, or soldiers who march long distances with heavy packs (e.g. Stress fractures occur in normal bones, but these bones are exposed to excessive/repeated loading and unloading, above what would be considered normal everyday activites. There are a number of different causes of bone weakness, including osteoporosis, genetic abnormalities in bone formation and maintenance, developmental abnormalities of bone, non-cancerous and cancerous tumours, and infections. A “pathological fracture” is a fracture that occurs in a bone with abnormally reduced strength that experiences otherwise normal forces.

In normal bones, fractures usually occur when a sudden amount of high force is applied to the bone.

Broken fragments meaning crack#

A fracture is ANY break or loss of continuity in the structure of a bone, whether it is a tiny crack all the way up to a bone that has split into multiple fragments.įractured bones may be undisplaced (a tiny crack in the bone without any significant separation of the fragments) or displaced (where there is a detectable separation of the bone ends).