What most people get wrong about a broken bone is thinking of it like a pretzel, snapped neatly in two. This could be the case, depending on how you go about it, but the truth is it’s seldom this cut-and-dry. A lot of the time, an impact strong enough to break a bone will be strong enough to splinter it into multiple parts, move those parts around, and create something that is, in no way, neat.
Join us, today, as we take a closer look at one of these kinds of breaks, the problematic comminuted fracture.
Comminuted Fracture: What Are They?
The term “comminuted fracture” applies to a specific type of broken bone. Due to the sudden, intense nature of the impact, the bone is broken haphazardly, fragmenting off into more multiple pieces. These can be various sizes and shapes and, perhaps more importantly, their size and independence mean they can move away from the primary break site. This makes them more difficult to repair in any meaningful way.
How Does This Kind of Fracture Happen?
As we’ve mentioned, a comminuted fracture doesn’t result from a short tumble off a swing set. These are high-impact injuries, the kind you find in serious car accidents or after someone takes a large fall.
We make this distinction because, physically, the amount of force needed to break a bone explosively like this is in its own distinct category. Splintered, fragmented breaks are much more common in these cases. When diagnosing a comminuted fracture, a high impact accident can also help to save time in “guessing” at whether there are missing bone fragments, which can cause their own problems.
Comminuted Fracture Treatment
While nothing is ever set in stone, it’s mostly a foregone conclusion that someone with a comminuted fracture will likely require surgery. High-end orthopedic plates and implants, like those available from Toby Orthopaedics, allow for targeted treatment of these problem areas.
Innovative suture clips, for example, enable soft tissue reconstruction and help to secure comminuted bone. These same clips also function as low-profile plate extensions, helping to buttress comminuted cortical bone from developed tuberosities.
For more information on these and other amazing internal plate systems from Toby Orthopaedics, why not reach out and get in touch with us? Learn more about our product line and how you can use these products to better your own life, today!