Pronounce Comminuted Fracture (2024)

FAQs

What is in a comminuted fracture __________? ›

What Is a Comminuted Fracture? A comminuted (kah-muh-NOOT-ed) fracture is a type of broken bone. The bone is broken into more than two pieces.

Comminuted fractures are almost always caused by serious traumas like car accidents or falls from a high place. They are very serious in large bones, and you will often need surgery to repair your bones. Sometimes, comminuted fractures happen to smaller bones and can heal without surgery.

One kind is a comminuted fracture. This injury happens when your bone breaks into three or more pieces. Fractures can be open or closed. If your skin breaks open from the wound, doctors call it an open or compound fracture.

Patients will almost always be non-weight bearing to allow for healing. As with most fractures, the acute healing process can take anywhere from six to twelve weeks, with the complete healing process taking up to a year for a complex comminuted fracture.

com·​mi·​nut·​ed. : being a fracture in which the bone is splintered or crushed into numerous pieces.

comminute \KAH-muh-noot\ verb. : to reduce to minute particles : pulverize. Examples: "Type III fractures are comminuted (involve multiple broken pieces of bone), which lead to mechanical blocks to motion and significant elbow joint and ligament damage.

Sound it Out: Break down the word 'fractured' into its individual sounds "frak" + "chuhd". Say these sounds out loud, exaggerating them at first. Practice until you can consistently produce them clearly.

Recovering from comminuted fractures can take a year or beyond, significantly longer than the recovery period for less serious types of breaks. After surgery, your affected bone needs to be immobilized with a cast, brace, or splint. For a few weeks, your symptoms of pain, bruising, and swelling may be notable.

The scaphoid is the most difficult bone in the body to get to heal due to its bad blood supply, location inside a joint, and heavy stresses applied by the neighboring bones. If a scaphoid fracture has 1 mm displacement, the chance of it not healing in a cast is 40%.

Individuals with conditions that weaken bones, such as osteoporosis, are more likely to experience a comminuted fracture from a trauma with less force.

Which types of fractures are most difficult to repair? ›

Repair of comminuted fractures follows a healing pattern similar to that of simple fractures, but on a larger scale. Such fractures generally are very difficult to treat and may result in a deformity of the injured part even after treatment.

Some people assume that fractured bones are more serious than broken bones, while others assume it's the other way around. But the truth is that these terms are used interchangeably, and they have the same meaning to medical professionals.

Recovery. Most femoral shaft fractures take 3 to 6 months to completely heal. Some take even longer, especially if the fracture was open or broken into several pieces or if the patient uses tobacco products.

Comminuted fractures most commonly occur in the long bones of arms and legs and are often accompanied by pain and limited movement of the fractured bone. Depending on the location of the fracture, surrounding tissue or organs can be damaged.

Complicated fracture – structures surrounding the fracture are injured. There may be damage to the veins, arteries or nerves, and there may also be injury to the lining of the bone (the periosteum). Comminuted fracture – the bone is shattered into small pieces.

Displaced and non-displaced fractures refer to the alignment of the fractured bone. In a displaced fracture, the bone snaps into two or more parts and moves so that the two ends are not lined up straight. If the bone is in many pieces, it is called a comminuted fracture.