What causes a Fracture?

A fracture occurs when an outside force is too great for a bone to handle. Although generally rigid, bones can weaken over time and become more susceptible to fracturing.
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Fractures may occur lengthwise, crosswise, or in multiple pieces. Similarly, the underlying causes of bone breaks varies.

Some common causes of fractures include: -
  • Falls
  • Direct strikes to the body
  • Traumatic events, such as car accidents
  • Injuries from Sports
A facture IS a broken bone

Types of Fracture

Fractures are classified as open or closed
  • Closed - When your bone breaks or cracks, but your skin is unbroken
  • Open - sometimes also called compound fracture - is when you have an open wound in your skin, exposing the broken bone.  The bone may have punctured through your skin, or you may have injured your skin at the same time as the fracture.  Open fractures are more serious and may require an orthopaedic surgeon to wash out the fracture site to prevent a bone infection.
Fractures are either displaced or non-displaced, meaning that they are adequately aligned or not.
  • Displaced - the fragments of bone have moved out of line.  This can make the area look misshapen
  • Non-Displaced - the broken parts of the bone haven't moved out of position and all looks normal
Fractures can also be described by the type of fracture line they form across the bone
  • Transverse - the fracture is straight across the bone
  • Spiral - the fracture spirals or extends down the length of the bone, this can happen as a result of a twisting injury
  • Comminuted - the fracture has more than two parts, multiple fragments are present
  • Oblique - the fracture occurs at an angle across the bone
  • Greenstick - In young children, the bones are not yet solid and when force is applied, it tends to bow and not break completely through.  The term comes from a similar situation when trying to break a young branch off a tree
  • Torus - In children, when only one part of a bone buckles it is called a torus or incomplete fracture
The skin is very important in protecting the inside of the body from infection.  If the skin overlying a broken bone is damaged, whether it is cut, torn or scraped, there is the potential for bacteria to invade the broken bone and cause an infection.

Training

Here at Dive Rutland and Rutland First Aid Training we run First Aid Training courses to suit all needs, be you someone who has a general interest in learning about first aid, to those that look after children and adults for a living we have a course for you.
Version 1.01: September 2020
Versions 1:00 - May 2019