Comminuted Fracture | Comminated Bone Fracture Treatment

Comminuted fracture is a broken bone that has three or even more fragments. This is essentially the best and most profound way to define comminuted fracture. This type of bone fracture is deemed a serious bone fracture due to the fragmentation of the bone. It is also called as multi-fragmentary fracture. Like some other fractures, this can be under the classification of open or closed fracture. An open comminuted fracture would have the fragments tearing the skin of the injured area resulting to an open wound. On the other hand, a closed comminuted bone fracture does not have any outward wounds at all. When it comes to the question of the difficulty of how to heal this type of fracture, an open fracture is at risk of infection which is why it is more difficult and more urgent to treat it. Open comminuted fractures are considered more dangerous than closed ones because they are prone to infection which makes their comminuted recovery time take even longer. It would be quite hard to know how comminuted fracture treatment should be done quickly. Due to the multi-fragmented condition of the fractured bone, it only becomes a complicated case to handle. A good surgeon can provide you great assurance that your comminuted fracture treatment will go well despite the complication of the fracture.

Bones are made up of calcium phosphate, the minerals that can make them grow denser. As the person ages, this particular mineral is deposited to the bones. The peak of the density of the bones will happen when the person is already 30 years of age. This is the time when the bones are really at their densest and strongest. This is why comminuted skull fracture in children or any other multi-fragmented fracture in other parts of the body would easily happen. Children still have softer bones at their age but they are still lucky because their fracture healing time is relatively fast compared to adults, especially the older people. This is because the kids’ bones are still growing making them recover faster after a greenstick fracture, for instance. It is a different case in adults though because the recovery time might be longer. Comminuted fracture treatment has to be done with more care for patients who have multi-fragmented fractures due to diseases. The comminuted fracture definition is having three or more fragmented bones but it does not cite any specific reason for the fragmentation. For instance, lumbar compression fracture might be caused by osteoporosis or cancer of the bone. There are several causes that might result to comminuted fracture injury.  Fragmented bones are the result of a strong force that happens during impact of any bony part of the body with a hard surface.

There are also several other types of bone fractures that might be broken into pieces as well. A boxer fracture might have fragmented metacarpal bones. Dens fracture or hip fracture can also become fragmented when hit with an extremely strong impact. This also goes the same for dancer’s fracture which can be caused by even a single misstep. Overly used foot might result to foot stress fracture.

Comminuted Fracture Causes

There are many causes of this kind of fracture. When a bone is crushed hard with a very strong force, this would likely break the bone into pieces. When the hips are hit by a powerful external impact, comminuted intertrochanteric fracture would likely occur. Even if the bones are dense, they are still prone to breaking, much more so those bones that lack the deposit of calcium phosphate. This is also likely the same story about how a comminuted spiral fracture happens. Older people are also prone to crushed bones. This could result to nondisplaced comminuted fracture. Bones become weaker as people age and as diseases eat them up, such as the case with osteoporosis. Comminuted fracture humerus is also caused by some diseases like osteogenesis imperfect, cancer, and other diseases that weaken the bones in the body. Weak bones would not require too much force to get broken and to get comminuted injury or other fractures. A fall or some other accidents would likely result to fracture of hips, wrist, spine, and other bones.

Accidents are cited as among the common causes of the different types of comminuted fracture. These accidents would include severe fall, vehicular trauma, bullet injury, and many other types of accidents. Vehicular accidents are the usual reasons why younger people have comminuted intraarticular fracture, or any other type of fractures. Diseases that affect the bones are the usual causes of the comminuted fractures among the older people. These are also pointed as the causes of severely comminuted fracture in some cases. Due to age and diseases, bones have the tendency to turn brittle which is why they become easy to break, and when they do, they often result to comminuted compound fracture.

Fracture Symptoms

There are also certain signs and symptoms that would show if the patient has broken a comminuted bone fracture. Pain is also felt by people who have comminuted tuft fracture and the other types of similar fracture. Swelling and bruises in the injured part are other symptoms that can be used to tell if there broken comminuted bones. The fractured area also feels warmer relative to the other parts of the body, another common symptom for fractured comminuted bone. When you have comminuted femur fracture, your thigh area would likely feel hotter than the other parts of your body that are still in perfect condition. Tenderness can be felt as well. If the fractured bone is used to exert effort on something, the pain might be too extreme to bear. There are even patients with comminution fracture who can no longer bear the pain and pass out. Having a comminuted calcaneal fracture is a serious matter because of the pain involved in the injury. This is a fracture on the heel that would make it difficult for the patient to walk or to even stand.

Fracture Diagnosis

X-ray is common equipment that is used by doctors who are examining patients who might have fractures, based on their initial findings. Repeated x-rays need to be done for those who just met an accident or just came from a severe fall and earned a comminuted tibial fracture in the process. This kind of examination is necessary because there are certain fractures that are quite hidden. To treat comminuted fracture completely and to let it undergo rehabilitation without any problem at all, all the fragments must be pieced back together in the right places. This is necessary to reduce the probability of the patient experiencing fracture complications, such as arthritis. A complete rehab would help you restore the fragmented bones back to their normal condition. Even if you would need to be more careful in using or moving an already fractured part of your body, at least you can already move without much inhibition.  The right treatment for the fracture would be known after the results of the x-ray would come out. It is through this kind of examination that the fracture will be seen clearly. The doctor would know how the fragments are positioned, how the damage of the comminuted displaced fracture is, and the like. This is how the doctor can tell if you need braces or not. You might even need fracture surgery if the damage is too big to be repaired by fracture cast alone.

Treatment for Fracture Comminuted

Compound comminuted fracture or some other fractures might need surgery in the soonest time possible, especially when the fracture also has an open wound. This is usually the case in any compound fracture. The surgery can certainly help put the fragments of the comminuted pilon fracture back together. This way, the fragments would connect back to each other’s tips and heal faster. There are also cases of comminuted clavicle fracture wherein due to the severity of the damage, the entire area might be opened during surgery to see the bones more closely. This also goes the same for comminuted fracture tibia and the other types of comminuted bone breakage. The exposed bones that are broken and separated from each other can be reassembled using pins. Some medicines are necessary because comminuted patellar fracture would put the patient in so much pain. Emedicine for preventative treatment would be necessary in some cases. There are also certain prescriptions that need to be taken in order to stay away from the risk of infection.