Compound Fractures

this article on compound fractures contradicts itself…says does not need to be thru the skin. which is true? thank you. i had both tibia and fibia broke and had to be in traction, but bone not thru the skin. is that consicered a compound fracture? thank you.

*tibia
*considered

sorry, half asleep

In order for an injury to be classified as a compound fracture, the outside air (and dirt and bacteria) must be able to get to the fracture site without a barrier of skin or soft-tissue…Therefore, a bone does not need to be through the skin in order for the injury to be called a compound fracture. ‘its a contradiction in terms’

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/c/c0535100.html

compound fracture definition
n.
A fracture in which broken bone fragments lacerate soft tissue and protrude through an open wound in the skin.

my son has a compound fracture and so far has had an ex fix on his leg for eleven weeks, they want him to go back in another three weeks for xray. Why is this taking so long to heal(its his Tibia thats broken) and also they say they will remove the ex fix while he is awake, isnt this going to be extremely painful for him? thankyou Tracy.

my husband had a compound fracture 4years ago. tibia and fibia clear through the skin, he has been in pain ever since, at the ankle part of surgery he has literally a bolt protruding through the skin from the titanium rod placed through his leg, is this common? and is it fixable?? we are seriously considering a suit!

margaret,
I had a very similar injury, in 2003, I have many screws protuding, as well as daily pain. I do not believe the surgens are at fault, quite franky i am just happy to have my foot still attached. but i am interested to see what you guys come up with. i have been trying to collect disabuility and keep getting turned down.

Eduardo..[Arsenal Striker] Has Suffered A Leg Break And Now Has Something Called A Compound Fracture…How Will It Heall…How Longg..??

My husband has a compound fracture which happened 6 days ago but are yet to repair it even though it is now clean and seems free from infection is this normal to take so long to repair?

I had a campound fracture(leg) 2 months ago and while i was in rehab (after a month & week) I had high tempreture (103 degree) for for first day and around 99 second day. It stopped by itself and didnot reoceer. I was rush to emergency and despite of all tests they couldnot find anything. I’m still curious why i had fever? My surgery wound is healing fine.

love to hear from you guys

newkife- i had a similar thing happen after a compound fracture of my arm. i was diagnosed with very minor osteomyelitis which healed with antibiotics. it could have been the same, except it healed up on its own.

I suffered a multiple compound fracture in my right leg in January it is now July and the wound is still not healing around the area of my skin graft also the bone has not healed. Is this normal?

My husband had an open compound fracture of his tibia & fibula with a dislocated ankle.They took him immediately to surgery w/a orthopedic specialist. Months later he had a sever staff infection. It presented it’s self by a 4X4X2in dark&lime green abscess, excruciating pain, and red inflammation up to the knee.They hospitalized 5 days and removed all hardware.
Now going on 4yrs later hes still in pain, walks with a limp and forgoes favorite activities.He has seen a couple of Dr’s $300 for insoles, precription of tremadole, $500 insoles”These are better” Dr said.
So I’m left with searching the web for any information. I greatly appreciate any help, I want him to have his life back. Thank you.

woa natalie bones take months to heal fully

if you mean, set the bone, the doctors have lots of reasons

this does not make sence
and is not true

My husband suffered a compound fracture of his left ankle in July,2008..then in Sept it started to drain and was very painful..so the Dr.took him to surgery immedently…and cleaned all the infected flesh out and put a wound vac. on it.. after several week it was taken off and wet to dry bandages used..3weeks ago it looked like it had finally healed..and then it opened up and started to drain and looked like it had months earlier.. the pain has been severe…the Dr. says it is ok and to do the wet to dry bandageing again..it is looking better but is still painful… seems like it is taking so long…

I had an open compound fracture of my tibia and fibula 6 years ago at the age of 15. I had an external device and no pins or screws were left in. I am now experiencing bad pain when i exercise and it hurts more and more every time. My doctor recently gave me an MRI and a bone scan and nothing bad came up. Please help!!!

“In order for an injury to be classified as a compound fracture, the outside air (and dirt and bacteria) must be able to get to the fracture site without a barrier of skin or soft-tissue. Therefore, a bone does not need to be through the skin in order for the injury to be called a compound fracture” means you can have a hole at the site of the fracture – the bone doesn’t necessarily have to be sticking out; it just needs to be exposed to air and bacteria.

I was struck by a car recently while riding my bike and suffered a compound fracture to my tibia and fibula in one leg. I just wanted to correct a number of people. You are referring to the tibia (shin bone) and fibula (not FIBIA) the calf bone, both of which are located in the lower leg. While it is easy to confuse (I was an anatomy and physiology student at one point in my life so I know the pain of this memorization) it helps you credibility if you use anatomically correct terminology.

A year ago my husband had a compound fracture of the Tibia ad Fibula. It healed great, however now his foot is at a 30 degree angle of what it used to be. Is this normal or common for such an injury?

My husband was playing beach volleyball Labor Day weekend of 2009.Had a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula. It is Jan. of 2010, has spent 5 weeks in the hospital, a wound vac. (there & at home, with a visiting nurse). Being open in the lake water made it much worse which caused infection. We are still waiting for the wound to heal & the bones finally started to fuse together( they were able to put a plate in the fibula bone but not the tibia). His bones were so shattered from running into an anquor in the water he has lost a 1/2 inch of highth on his left leg. Please say a prayer! Believe it or not..he says he will play again….

I am recovering from a compound fracture right now. I broke my Tibia and Fibula in April 2009. I have internal hardware. A metal rod from my knee to ankle and 6 metal screws. The Fibula is healed but the Tibia is not healing at all. I’m still in daily constant pain when I walk. He thinks we will have to do another surgery in a few months if it does not heal… I’m worried. Will I be in this constant pain forever.

i suffered abad compound fracture to my tib and fib. i had an external fixator fitted around the 5/11/09 healing really well but keep getting pin site infections which is a real pain, i have also suffered quite a bit of weight loss since my injury is this normal?

rabbo,i was walkingn to the takeaway in oct 2009,caught my leg in a railing and broke tib and fib down near the ankle,I passed out with the pain, the boys watching thought i just had fallen over and walked me 10 yards down tte road untill the seen the blood running down me leg .got an x fix on till dec 18 and a cast on now ,hopefully for just another week ,then it will be the soft one that you can take off .sorry to get side tracked the reason i was getting to you was about the pin sites ,keep them cleaned each day with cleaned (boiled) water and covered with iodene strips threr in a big pack you have to cut into stpips for under the sponge . if you need any help my e mail is ballyjoe2000@yahoo.co.uk

I had compound fracture of my left tibia (is that the right bone in lower part of leg cos that’s the one that came out of my skin) and also snapped my fibula (that might be the left bone!) after falling of a ladder. Lost so much skin and bone had to have a muscle taken from my right inner thigh inserted to my ankle and then a skin graft over that. Smashed my bones so badly that B&Q have run out of metal plates and screws. This happened in October 2009 and now January 2010 I need a bone graft to plug the gap. How long is it going to take before I can walk again and the horrid piece of meat attached to my ankle to go down?

It is NOT a CONTRADICTION of terms. I do admit it is written in a confusing manner, but as an EMT I would like to clarify from my own experience. It states that the BONE does not necessarily penetrate the skin BUT that it is exposed to the elements. This can occur when there is an opening in the flesh down to the fracture sight, but the bone itself did not cause the open wound. A gun shot is a good example; it leaves a hole exposing the bone and fractures the bone, BUT THE BONE DOES NOT PENETRATE OUT THROUGH THE SKIN!

I don’t mean to rant but the more comments I read the more frustrated I become when people don’t READ what is actually written. I enjoyed several comments, but a majority speak of “contradiction of terms” and “tibia and fibia” and “traction”. First of all I have explained above how it is NOT a contradiction of terms; secondly, fibia is not even a bone, it is your tibia and fibula, ending ULA not IA; lastly, nowhere in the article does it say that the treatment of traction defines the fracture as compound in nature. Traction is to relieve pressure on the fracture to either prevent the ligaments from squeezing the fracture site out of alignment or to aid in “stretching” a bone to make it grow slightly longer as it heals. Nowhere in the article did it define this as a compound fracture. If your fracture is exposed to the elements, it is compound, if it’s not, it’s not.

I had an open compound fracture of my tibia and fibula 6 years ago at the age of 15. I had a temporary external device, no pins or screws were left in. I am now experiencing bad pain from my lower ankle, through my calf muscle, and up to the fracture site(mid shin) when i exercise. The pain increases with every work out or “run”. My doctor recently gave me an MRI and a bone scan and nothing bad came up. Please help!!!

In 2008 i was in a car wreck.I fractured and dislocated my hip,compound fracture right tibula/fibula,fractured right elbow,5 ribs,sturnum,my jaw and eye socket,but that doesnt count because it didnt hurt.I was in Hospital for 30 days.After all the surgeries and 10 months of recovering,my right leg broke again,coe to find out I had a staff infection,4 of the screws broke.Had another surgery,now I have 2 rods and 26 screws.My ankle hurts everyday and the pain is unberable most of the time.I got a cortizone shot a month ago and it seems to hurt worse.My cartlige in my ankle is being over taken by the bone.Now my DR. says its a matter of time before i need another surgery.It will be fused..Im hopeing the pain from the arthretis will be elimaneted,and the infection will go with it.Only took a little over 2 years for the ss to be excepted.

My husband just broke his tib. and fib. with dislocation of right ankle bone on Friday March 5, 2010. He was quikly taken to a hospital with an ortho doctor on call he has a plate and 11 screws holding his ankle together. He is in a air cast to allow for swelling for 2 weeks. Then regualr cast for 4 weeks. Then a walking boot for 4 weeks. And at 3 months they have to remove some of the hardware because the bones won’t tolerate staying screwed together. It takes a long time to heal a bad break and is hard to manage pain wise is what our doctor said. Hope this helps.

An interesting link, check it out:

http://www.economist.com/science-technology/technology-quarterly/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15048727

It is about a recent discovery at the University of Utah of a way to ‘glue’ bones back together. No cast, rapid recovery, no plates and screws!

A compound fracture is when the bone is completedly not connected but the skin is broken to the point where the bones is exposed. The bone can be sticking out of the leg or exposed (like a shark bite where the skin and muscle are gone and the broken bone is showing)

i was run over by a catterpillar digger in 2002 and had a compound fracture of tib and fib i had a rod put in first and that bent then i had it removed then i went to see a ortho specialist and he put me a frame on called a sheffield ring which i had to turn screws with an allen key for 18 month,s to allow bone to heal then i was in and out of casts for another 12 month,s plus. after further complications and infections only in 2008 i have slowly started to recover and also had plastic surgery to cover up where my tibia came out so even though it,s been a long haul it,s been worth it to keep my leg

I was recently involved in a car crash. Had a compound fracture on my right elbow, I’ve seen at least 6 orthopaedic surgeons and they have no idea how I managed it. I lost at least two inches of bone from my arm. According to one of my surgeons the bones in my elbow looked like “crushed sugar cubes”. I had an external fixator from just above my wrist to just below my shoulder for a number of weeks until some of my mushed bone fused together, as there was no bone for the plates to be joined to. After a few weeks more x-rays showed that I had 11 visible fractures to my elbow, there was probably more they just couldn’t see them. Now I have metal plates holding my elbow in place. I’ve many more ahead of me, including a bone graft from my hip to my elbow. Hopefully my bone graft will take as well as my skin graft. Apparently at 18 years of age, I’ve great healing. The pain and numerous injuries I’ll get over because I’m incredibly lucky to be alive at all….. Hope everyone who has posted recovers soon. =]

I was 12 when I got a compound fracture when in a footy match I got studded and the tibia ripped out the skin and the hospital had to fly a top surgeon in to operate on me otherwise i would of lost my leg and they filmed the surgery!!!

my husband broke his ankle bone he got 2 plates and 8 screws, so far he is doing well they put a cast on but he can’t put weight on it yet everything seem to be healing well. i know he has a long road ahead of him. but i would like to know how long.

Hello, I broke my ankle in 3 places April 6th, 2010. This is called (trimalleor fracture). I had surgery April 7th, 2010. I had screws placed in left side of ankle and a rod placed in the fibula. I had to have the rod removed from fibula June 30th, it became dislodged during PT. Xrays on July 8th showed good alignment and healing. Sometime between July 8th and July 30th the fibula broke again, it is no longer in place. Fibula initially needed plated but due to gross swelling surgeon opted for insertion of a rod for healing. I go back to the doctor today for the final verdict. It has been 6 weeks since fibula broke again. I have been in an air cast. I haven’t been in a regular shoe since original injury. Surgeon stated at my last visit 5 weeks ago, that fibula will probally need plated, but surgeon also stated he hates the idea of going back into my ankle. I’m in constant pain. Please send me any info,suggestions, advice or personal experiences. Thanks rhondagraley@gmail.com. You can alsofind me on facebook the name is Rhonda Graley. Thanks and have a blessed day

5 year old compound fracture left arm 2″ above wrist. Internal only. Roughly 5 pm. Emergency room (highly competent) waited 6 hrs and called orthopedic in to surgically align at 11pm. Morphine during the wait. Food in stomach at 4 pm was reason for wait.
Surgeon did his thing and cast. 1 week later at follow up yesterday xrays showed complete unalignment (dramatic) again. No falling or injury with cast issues we believe. Scheduled surgery immediately this morning. To our surprise they now said pins would be needed possibly. The predicted 20 min surgery lasted almost an hour. Not only did they use pins on main bone only, not smaller bone, but made incision to cut off portion of bone to get realigned again. Left uln unaligned fully and stated no big deal, it’ll heal; the larger bone was issue in surgeons mind.
They made several mistakes during the pre and post process due to the patients age, 5 yrs. We have now lost confidence in this surgeon and medical center because we feel pins were warranted in the beginning and our son should not have gone through a 2nd procedure today.
We question the surgeons judgements and statements. Sone is home recooperating for the 2nd time in 1 week.
Question; what is criteria for judgement on pins or not. Why was it not necessary in the beginning and now critically needed. What could possibly have changed.
Advise??

In 1988 at the age of sixteen I was hit by a car in a motorcycle accident, and ended up in the woods. I received a severe open tib/fib fracture to the left leg. The wound was left open for about a month for dirt,vegitation, and even insects to be removed. I spent from september 6, 1988 until december 12, 1988 in the hospital, and had over ten surgeries. I spent the next two years in cast, and eventually a leg boot. From 1990 until 2000 I had a few infections, and other boughts of pain. Since 2000 my leg has continually gotten worse. Besides crippling pain I have had cellulitis, skin infections, staff, and now osteomylitis(bone infection) I am in the process of planning the amputation below the knee to remove my leg. I had pins, screws, and an internal rod, but all have since been removed. My skin and bone grafts are falling apart, and the pain unbearable. I hope tib/fib surgery is better now, but be prepared for complications far down the road. Good luck to everyone with a tib/fib compound fracture, and always listen to what your body tells you, and not the doctor or surgeon. Especially 22 years later.

i had a double compound fracture on my finger when it was slammed in a steel front door…… lemme tell you its really creepy staring at your bones

I broke my Fibula and it nearly pierced the skin what is this called???

i had a compound fracture 5 months ago both tibia and fibula are broken in the bike accident . i did a surgery in apollo hospital they kept me in external splint for 4 months the fibula bone is joined now but the tibia bone is not yet completely cured now the doctor have taken the fixator and put me a pop on the leg , my doubt is will this type of fracture will cure completely, and how long it may take for the tibia to become normal as everybody.. pls hlp me

thnks in advance

Could an injury cause a deep laceration and also break the bone allowing it to be exposed to outside contaminates without the bone breaking the skin or protruding through the skin and be a compound fracture???