Compound fracture — see Fracture

Compound Fracture

A traumatic accident like a fall or car crash can break your leg or other bones in your body. If a broken bone pierces your skin, it’s called a compound fracture. You’ll need surgery to realign your bones and then a cast to keep them immobilized. Always go to the emergency department if you think you have a broken bone.

What is a compound fracture?

A compound fracture is a break or crack in your bone that is visible through your skin. Generally, bones break as a result of force and/or trauma like a car crash. Fractures can also be caused by less traumatic but repeated force. For example, if a soldier frequently marches with a heavy pack on their back, the repeated force on their leg could cause a crack in their fibula.

                                                              

What makes a fracture “compound” or “open” is when the broken bone pierces your skin. If you happen to fall from a ladder and land on your arm, breaking it, you’ll know it’s a compound fracture if you can see the bone. “Simple” or “closed” fractures don’t break through your skin.

Compound fractures are extremely painful. It may also be frightening to see your bone exposed. A fracture is a serious injury, and you should immediately go to the emergency department for help.

Which bones can fracture?

Any bone in your body can break, but compound fractures most commonly occur in your limbs (arms, hands, legs and feet). Less commonly broken bones include:

     *Ribs.
     *Collar bone.
     *Eye bones.
     *Pelvis.
     *Skull bones.
     *Face bones.
     *Spine or vertebrae.

What causes compound fractures?

Severe trauma causes compound fractures. Examples of events that can cause this type of severe trauma include a:

    *Car crash.
    *Fall from a significant height.
    *Contact sport like football.

What are the symptoms of a compound fracture?

A broken bone is a compound fracture if it breaks through your skin. You can see the broken bone. Additional symptoms include:

    *Severe, sharp pain.
    *Tenderness to touch.
    *Swelling.
    *Bruising.
    *Bleeding.
    *Nerve damage, which may make the pain less or more severe than expected.

How is a compound fracture diagnosed?

A compound/open fracture is more obvious to a healthcare provider than a simple/closed fracture because your bone has broken through your skin. The healthcare provider will do a physical examination and then order X-rays to see exactly how the bones are broken and how they need to be aligned. Sometimes healthcare providers require a more sensitive test, like an MRI (magnetic resonance images) or a CT scan (computed tomography) to fully assess the damage from the fracture.

Your healthcare provider will check for complications in addition to diagnosing the compound fracture itself. They’ll do the following:

    *Check the color and temperature of your skin.
    *Check your pulse and blood pressure to be sure there is no significant bleeding.
    *Check for nerve damage by examining the area around and beyond your injury.

What healthcare providers diagnose compound fractures?

Compound fractures are obvious fractures. If you’re taken to the hospital by ambulance after the fracture, the healthcare providers in the ambulance will be able to diagnose it. Whether or not you need an ambulance, you should always go to the nearest emergency department where healthcare providers will diagnose the compound fracture and plan your treatment.

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