What are the Types of Fracture?
There are various types of fractures like traumatic fracture or pathological fracture; open fracture or closed fracture etc.
Fractures can be classified in a number of ways:
Classification of fractures based on the cause -
- Traumatic fracture- This type of fracture is due to trauma like direct blow, fall or road traffic accident.
- Pathological fracture- Fracture in a weak bone due to underlying diseases like osteoporosis is called a pathological fracture.
Fractures can be classified based on whether the skin is damaged into -
- Open fractures (Compound fracture)- In these fractures, the skin is damaged exposing the underlying structures.
- Closed fractures (Simple fracture)- In thesefractures, the skin is intact.
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Types of fractures depending on the extent of injury to the bone are -
- Complete fracture- A complete fracture is onein which the bone fragments separate completely.
- Incomplete fracture- A fracture in which the bone fragments are still partially joined is called an incomplete fracture.
- Avulsion fracture- When a muscle or ligament pulls on the bone thus separating a fragment of bone, the resultant is an avulsion fracture.
- Comminuted fracture- In a comminuted fracture, the bone is broken into many pieces.
- Compression (crush) fracture- This type of fracture generally occurs in the vertebrae. For example- the front portion of a vertebra in the spine may collapse due to osteoporosis.
- Impacted fracture- In an impacted fracture, one fragment of bone is driven into another.
- Longitudinal fracture (Linear fracture)- This type of fracture occurs along the length of the bone.
- Oblique fracture- An oblique fracture is diagonal to the bone's long axis.
- Transverse fracture- A fracture that is at a right angle to the bone’s long axis is a transverse fracture.
- Spiral fracture- A spiral fracture is one where at least one part of the bone has been twisted.
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- Fracture dislocation- In a fracture dislocation, a joint becomes dislocated, and one of the bones of the joint is fractured.
- Greenstick fracture- A greenstick fracture is one where the bone is partly fractured on one side, but does not break completely. It is more common in children as their bones are soft and elastic.
- Hairline fracture- A hairline fracture is a type of fracture where there is a partial fracture of the bone.
- Stress fracture- The bone fractures due to repeated stress. It is more common among athletes.
- Torus (buckle) fracture- In a torus fracture, the bone deforms but does not crack. It is more common in children.
