A fracture is a partial or complete break in a bone. Although people sometimes distinguish between a “fracture” and a “broken bone,” the terms mean the same thing medically. Fractures can range from small cracks that heal with limited intervention to severe injuries involving multiple bone fragments, damaged tissue, surgery, and months of rehabilitation.
Broken bones are common injuries in personal injury cases and are frequently caused by motor vehicle crashes, falls, workplace incidents, sports injuries, and other forms of trauma. The severity of the injury may depend on the force involved, the bone affected, the person’s age and health, and whether nearby nerves, blood vessels, muscles, or organs were also damaged.
Common Types of Fractures
Doctors classify fractures according to the appearance and location of the break.
Common classifications include:
- Stable or nondisplaced fracture: The bone breaks, but its ends remain aligned or move only slightly.
- Displaced fracture: The broken ends move out of their normal position.
- Open or compound fracture: A wound exposes the fracture site, sometimes because a bone fragment has pierced the skin. Open fractures carry a serious infection risk.
- Closed fracture: The bone breaks without creating an open wound in the skin.
- Transverse fracture: The fracture line runs across the bone.
- Oblique fracture: The break forms at an angle.
- Comminuted fracture: The bone breaks into three or more pieces.
- Stress fracture: A small crack develops after repetitive force or overuse.
- Compression fracture: A bone collapses under pressure. This commonly affects the vertebrae.
- Greenstick fracture: The bone bends and cracks without breaking completely, an injury seen most often in children.
Some accidents cause multiple fractures or a combination of fractures and soft-tissue injuries. A high-impact collision, for example, may produce broken ribs, leg fractures, and injuries to internal organs at the same time. A Long Island personal injury lawyer can help injured victims understand their legal options when these serious injuries are caused by someone else’s negligence.
Signs and Symptoms of a Broken Bone
Fractures often cause immediate pain, but symptoms vary. Common warning signs include swelling, bruising, tenderness, difficulty moving the affected area, inability to bear weight, and visible deformity. A person may also hear or feel a snap when the injury occurs.
Some fractures are not immediately obvious. Hairline and stress fractures may initially produce only localized pain that worsens with activity. Adrenaline can also temporarily mask pain following a serious accident.
Prompt medical evaluation is important when a fracture is suspected. Emergency assistance may be necessary if a bone has broken through the skin, a limb appears deformed, bleeding is severe, or the injured area becomes pale, blue, cold, or numb. Until help arrives, avoid attempting to straighten the bone or move the person unless remaining in place presents an immediate danger.
How Fractures Are Diagnosed
A healthcare provider will typically examine the injured area and ask how the accident happened. X-rays are commonly used to confirm a fracture, identify its location, and determine whether the bone has moved out of alignment.
Certain injuries require additional imaging. A CT scan can provide detailed views of complex fractures, while an MRI may reveal stress fractures or injuries to nearby muscles, ligaments, and other soft tissue.
A thorough medical evaluation serves two purposes after an accident. It allows treatment to begin promptly and creates documentation connecting the injury to the event. Waiting to obtain care can endanger a person’s health and may make it more difficult to establish when or how the fracture occurred.
Treatment and Recovery
Treatment depends on the bone involved and the nature of the break. Many fractures can be treated by repositioning the bone when necessary and immobilizing it with a cast, splint, or brace. More serious injuries may require surgery.
Surgical treatment can include plates, screws, rods, or pins that hold the bone in position while it heals. An external fixation device may be used when extensive swelling or soft-tissue damage makes immediate internal fixation unsuitable.
Recovery time varies considerably. Factors include the injured bone, severity of the break, age, general health, circulation, and whether the patient follows medical instructions. Although pain may improve relatively early, that does not necessarily mean the bone is strong enough for normal use. Returning to work, sports, or strenuous activity prematurely can interfere with healing.
Physical or occupational therapy may be needed after immobilization. Therapy can help restore strength, flexibility, coordination, and range of motion. Some people nevertheless experience ongoing pain, stiffness, weakness, nerve symptoms, reduced mobility, or post-traumatic arthritis.
Protecting a Potential Injury Claim
After receiving necessary medical care, preserve as much evidence as possible. Photograph the accident scene, hazardous conditions, any damaged vehicles, visible injuries, casts, braces, and surgical scars. Obtain the names and contact details of witnesses. Keep medical records, bills, receipts, wage statements, and written work restrictions.
Follow the treatment plan and attend scheduled appointments. Gaps in care can affect recovery and may allow an insurer to argue that the injury was less serious than claimed. Avoid giving detailed recorded statements or signing broad medical authorizations without understanding how they may be used.
Contact the New York Personal Injury Lawyers at Carrion Accident & Injury Attorneys, PLLC for a Free Consultation
A fracture can disrupt your health, employment, finances, and independence. If someone else’s carelessness caused your injury, Carrion Accident & Injury Attorneys, PLLC can investigate what happened, preserve evidence, communicate with insurers, evaluate your economic damages and non-economic damages, and explain the legal options available to you.
Our firm represents injured people throughout New York. Contact our law offices today at (212) 433-3100 for a free consultation with an experienced New York personal injury lawyer.
