Los Angeles Broken Bones / Orthopaedic Injury Attorney

A bone fracture may occur when impact applied to a bone that is stronger than the bone itself. Your risk of fracture may depend partly on your age. Children are more susceptible to fracture, but they tend to be less complicated than broken adult bones. When you’re older, bones become brittle and therefore a fall that can harm a child could seriously harm an adult.

There are many types of fractures, but the most common categories are complete break (bone snaps in two), incomplete fracture (broken bones, but not in pieces), fracture or open fracture (broken bone, skin) and a simple fracture (transverse, oblique, ground, under the influence, stress and hairline). There are several ways to classify a bone fracture. Each of the types of fractures require different type and extent of treatment to injury victims. Therefore, it is very important to understand what types of fractures you actually are suffering from. Types of bone fracture by condition of injury:

• Undisplaced Bone Fracture or Hairline Fracture is when a bone develops a crack or break through, but the broken ends are still in place, without any displacement or gap. These fractures are best treated with a simple fiberglass or plaster cast and generally do not require surgical treatment.

• Compound Bone Fracture is when the fracture pierces the skin and creates an external wound. These fractures are associated with higher rates of infection due to exposure of the bone to the surrounding bacterias and also cause bleeding from the wound.

• Pathological Bone Fracture occurs when the bone is weakened by a disease such as cancer, or osteoporosis and eventually develops a fracture. These fractures do not require much power and are possible after a trivial slip and fall or any slight impact.

• Displaced Fracture of the bone is where the broken ends of fractured move away from each other creating a gap between them. The amount of gap is different for different types of bone fractures, for example, a difference of two or three millimeters may be insignificant in a fracture of the humerus, but may be serious in fracture phalanx fingers.

Types of fractures by location:

• Skull fracture – A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the bones in the skull  usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma. If the force of the impact is excessive the bone may fracture at or near the site of the impact.
• Spinal fracture – A spinal fracture (or vertebral fracture) is a fracture affecting the bones of the spinal column.  They can affect the cervical vertebrae (a cervical fracture), or other parts of the column.
• Rib fracture – A rib fracture is a break or fracture  in one or more of the bones making up the rib cage.  The first rib is unlikely to be fractured although if it does happen, it can lead to serious relating injuries.  Most commonly fractured ribs are the 7th and 10th ribs.
• Sternal fracture – A sternal fracture is a fracture of the sternum (breastbone). Sternal fracture commonly occurs from trauma by vehicle accidents when the chest strikes a steering wheel or dashboard or is wounded by a seatbelt. Broken sternum can make breathing difficult, so it is more painful. In some cases, sternal fracture leads to injuries to what’s underneath – heart and lungs.
• Shoulder fracture – Major injuries to the shoulder include rotator cuff tear and bone fractures of one or more of the bones in the shoulder.
• Arm fracture – Arm fracture includes upper arm or forearm fracture.
• Hand fracture – Fracture of of one or more bones in one’s hand
• Pelvic fracture – Pelvic fracture is an injury or disruption of the bony structure of the pelvis, including the hip bone, sacrum and coccyx. The most common causes of pelvic fracture include slip and fall, auto accidents, or bicycle accidents.
• Patella fracture – A patella fracture is a fracture  of the kneecap usually caused by a hard blow to the front of the knee. Treatment options for patella fracture include nonsurgical and surgical options, depending on the type of fracture.
• Crus fracture – A crus fracture is a fracture of a bone in the lower leg from the knee to ankle.
• Foot fracture – A foot fracture is quite often in car accidents as driver’s right foot on pedals can get jammed and injured from traumatic forces.
• Broken neck – Commonly referred to as a cervical fracture.

Some fractures are more serious than others. Some broken bone injury requires open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) surgery to repair fractures. It is a procedure where surgeons employ screws and plates or intramedullary rods to secure bones to fix the fracture. Sometimes these materials remains in the fracture temporarily and sometimes permanently. Broken bones can disable many life functions including being able to work.  Such injury is a serious matter in personal injury compensation.  If you have been a victim of broken bones or orthopaedic injury in Los Angeles areas, talk to our Los Angeles broken bones / orthopaedic injury attorney today.