Question | Answer |
avulsion (Abriss) | complete severing of a body part (typically toe or fringer) |
closed (simple) | bone does not break through skin |
colles | fracture of the distal end of the lateral forearm bone (radius) |
comminuted | bone is splintered into several small pieces between the main parts |
complete | bone is broken into two or more pieces |
compression | bone is squashed (may occur in vertebra during a fall) |
depressed | broken part of the bone forms a concavity (as in skull fracture) |
displaced | fracture bone parts are out of anatomic alignment |
epiphyseal | epiphysis is seperated from the diaphysis at the epiphyseal plate |
greenstick | partial fracture; one side of bone breaks, the other side bends |
hairline | fine crack in which sections of bone remain aligned (common in skull) |
impacted | one fragment of bone is firmly driven into the other |
incomplete | partial fracture that extends only partway across bone |
linear | fracture is parallel to the long axis of the bone |
oblique | diagonal fracture at an angle between linear and transverse |
open (compound) | broken ends of the bone protrude through the skin |
pathologic | weakening of a bone caused by disease processes (e.g. cancer) |
pott | fracture at the distal end of the tibia, fibula or both |
spiral | fracture spirals around axis of long bone; results from twisting stress |
stress | thin fracture due to repeated, stressful impact such as running. (may be difficult to see on x-rays) |
transverse | fracture at right angle to the long axis of the bone |