After a serious accident, the diagnosis of skeletal trauma in the form of a bone fracture may seem like the "good news" but bone fractures come in many shapes and sizes. Whether recovery will be easy or difficult depends on many factors, not the least of which is the type and location of the skeletal trauma.

When, Where, How

A bone is considered fractured if it becomes cracked, splintered or bisected as a result of a skeletal trauma or a medical condition that caused weakening in the bones. If the bone were completely severed, it would be a broken bone. A doctor is first concerned with whether the fractured bone has also broken the skin. If not, it is a closed fracture. If so, it is an open or compound fracture. Broken skin can allow infection to penetrate the bone fracture and carry an elevated risk of infection. An open fracture requires immediate surgical treatment that involves removal of dirt and debris as well as any dead tissue. If the diagnosis is simple fracture, then the fracture has occurred along one line, leaving the bone in two pieces. The alternative is a multi-fragmentary fracture. If displacement - a fracture gap - has occurred, the bone may need to be manipulated back into shape and might require surgery to correct. A fracture of the vertebra might be a compression fracture and can be caused by osteoporosis rather than a skeletal trauma.

A fracture in which the bone separates completely is a complete fracture while an incomplete fracture is one in which they are partly joined. The angle at which the fracture occurs is an important consideration in its treatment. If the break is parallel to the long axis of the bone then it is linear. If the break is at a right angle to the axis, it is transverse and any diagonal fracture is oblique. If a skeletal trauma causes a fracture that goes around the bone, it is a spiral fracture. A fracture that causes many fragments is called comminuted or "multi-fragmentary" and if the fragments have been driven into one another, it is an impacted fracture. When treating a skeletal trauma, the classification system for a bone fracture includes identifying the affected bone, the location of the fracture on the bone, the type of fracture (simple, multi-fragmentary, etc.), the group (transverse, oblique, spiral, etc,) and the subgroup which describes how the bone is displaced. A skeletal trauma can take a fraction of a second to occur, but the long-term treatment depends on an intense analysis of the damage.