Information Literacy Project:
Fractures
By: Faviola Mendez
Medical Emergencies
Instructor:
Dr. Suzan Melik
Introduction
Although a fracture is also known as a broken bone, there are many types of fractures. Some types of fractures are more severe than others, all of them must be seen immediately. Fractures happen at least twice in our lives. Some types of fractures are also caused by age or osteoporosis which is the weakening of the bones (Melinda, 2015). The severity of a fracture depends on the strength with which the fracture was caused. A bone could be fractured in many ways such as lengthwise, crosswise, and also in multiple pieces (Stuart James, 2012).
Some types of fractures are greenstick or also known as incomplete, transverse,
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Sometimes when treating the fracture and it gets severe the patient might need to be hospitalized and in other cases they need to get surgery (Nordqvist, 2014).
Signs and symptoms
The signs of a fracture are the level of pain that the patient is experiencing and other kind of dizziness or fainting, and lack of movement on the affected area. The symptoms are the things that someone other than the patient can see, in this case swelling, bruising, discoloration around the injury, if the affected area has an unusual angle (angulation), and if the fracture is open bleeding and how severe is the bleeding (Nordqvist, 2014).
Diagnosis
A doctor is able to diagnose a fracture and the severity of it by doing various procedures such as assessing the injury, checking for any medical conditions, past surgeries, and from there he or she will then proceed to medical procedures such as x- ray, MRI, CT scans, etc. (Stuart James,
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Prevention
There are many ways to prevent a fracture such as having a healthy lifestyle, having a proper diet, exercising, taking vitamins and calcium if necessary, having regular visits to the doctor and also physical examinations every year (Nordqvist, 2014), but the fact that there are ways to prevent fractures does not mean that it cannot occur, in fact any accident may lead to it, sports, accidents, overuse and others are always a big factor that lead to
A fracture is a break, in this case a break in the patients humerus, occipital bone and 3rd Lumbar vertebral body
A stress fracture, also known as a hairline fracture, is a fatigue-induced fracture of the bone caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated trauma from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or jumping causing the bones to crack and break.
Safety strategies to protect your bones are important for individuals of all ages. It is imperative for everyone to protect their bones and overall health by wearing seatbelts in any moving vehicle and by using appropriate protective equipment when participating in sports. If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, you may be more likely to break a bone as a result of a fall. In fact, most broken bones happen as a result of a fall. Falls happen for many reasons, most of which can be avoided.
Imagine you are by yourself in the mountains biking when slipping on a rock to tumble forward. Lucky you have a helmet to keep your head intact, but, your whole body is not protected much and hear a loud crack! This leads you to then find that your whole right thigh is dangling by only muscle and tissue with the whole bone in two pieces. This will hurt for a little bit and will only get worse with the fact that tons and tons of adrenaline are rushing right into your leg in an attempt to stop the pain. The only thing that you cannot do is look at your leg because you know that you are too much of a chicken to look at a broken bone… oh, shoot you fainted. During this time that you're asleep, you will not feel anything but will be in a lot more pain when you wake up. Shrieks are coming from your mouth as your leg is in extreme pain, but you cannot do anything but call for help. You reach for your phone to call in an attempt to get an ambulance and touch your broken leg. This Sends tons of pain right into your leg, all to discover that your battery is dead. You have to wait it all out until someone comes. Breaking a bone is one of biggest fears in life and I wish never to break a major one until I die and this is how I imagine it. While breaking a bone there will be a loud snap which it is first thing in bone breaking. Hearing the crackling noise in a bone while breaking is not the worst part of the experience because it is like breaking some celery
There are a few specific types of breaks that usually occur as a result of playing baseball. The stable fracture is the least invasive on a player. A stable fracture occurs when the broken ends of the bone line up and are barely out of place. Another common fracture in baseball is the compound fracture. In the compound fractures, the skin may be pierced by the bone or by a blow that breaks the skin at the time of the fracture and the bone may or may not be visible in the wound (orthoinfo.aaos.org). The worst fracture for baseball players is the comminuted fracture, the number one reason being the difficulty for the bone to effectively heal. Comminuted fractures occur when the bone is shattered into three or more pieces. Broken bones are treated by immobilizing the afflicted area with casts, braces, external fixation, or internal fixation. Due to the type of and extent of the injury, the time it takes to heal broken bones
Breaking a bone or injuring any part of your body can be horribly painful and also very stressful. If you were playing your favorite sport and you gave it everything you had plus that extra 10%, you break your arm and have to go to the hospital and sit out the rest of the season versus getting back up perfectly fine and as if it had never even happened.
A fracture is simply a broken bone. When a bone breaks, the blood vessels, muscles and nerves around the site of the break will also be damaged.
In elderly patients and high risk patients, physicians may consider a more conservative treatment option using splints/casts rather than surgery
Broken bones are not painful at all. Pain is Physical suffering or discomfort by illness or injury. In fact, I broken a bone years ago eight to be exact. Fear of hospitals, ghost stories and the anxiety of being alone, broken bones are not painful at all.
OBSERVE: When observing the injured area, compare both limbs to determine any signs, deformity, swelling, inflammation etc.
According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, nearly one quarter of men and an astonishing fifty percent of women will break a bone due to osteoporosis. Women are primarily affected by this due to menopause or
Fragility fracture is occasionally the first presentation of osteoporosis. The incidence of osteoporosis-related fractures has been reported to increase with age and over 50% of the incidents occurring in menopausal women aged > 75 years. Vertebral column and hip are the most common site of fracture contributing to a significant morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Additionally, patients with a history of a fracture have a higher chance of encountering future fractures (Anders et al. 2007).
Whenever players come into contact with each other they run the risk of fracture to various parts of the body. The most common time this would happen would once again be during tackling, rucks, and mauls, where the impact is at its greatest and applied directly to the bones. Indirect fractures can also occur when a player trips over another player or uneven playing surface and lands awkwardly on a joint or bone with significant force and pressure. Stress fractures are an overuse injury that can occur in rugby due to prolonged training and playing on hard surfaces which puts stress on the muscles and bones, especially those in the
2. An open fracture would affect the body’s homeostasis more than a closed fracture because it breaks through the skin. In a closed fracture, the body only worries about the fractured bone, but in an open fracture, the body has to worry about both the fractured bone and the skin that was ripped. However, both fractures can cause other body systems to go awry, but the open fracture causes more damage to the body.
Common fractures that occur in the spine, hips, and wrist are frequently related to osteoporosis. Sometimes mild stressors such as coughing or bending over may cause a fracture of brittle and weakened bones related to osteoporosis. Bone is live tissue that is continuously damaged and repaired.