From Jonathan Cluett, M.D.,
Your Guide to Orthopedics.
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About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Kate Grossman, MD

Most people were introduced to the orthopedic surgeon at a young age when they were brought to the emergency room with their first broken bone. For me the memory of the event is now faint (something about a bicycle and pavement), but the cast that I was able to tote around the classroom is fondly recalled as one of my moments of youthful pride.

Introduction to Fractures

Fractures, broken bones--you can call it what you wish, it means the same thing--are among the most common orthopedic problems, about 6.8 million come to medical attention each year in the United States. The average citizen in a developed country can expect to sustain two fractures over the course of their lifetime.

Is it a Fracture or a Break?
Despite what you may have heard, a broken bone is not worse than a fracture, they both mean the same thing. In fact, the word fracture, according to the Oxford English Dictionary is defined as "the act of being broken." There are different types of fractures and broken bones, but these words mean the same thing!.

Fractures happen because an area of bone is not able to support the energy placed on it (quite obvious, but it becomes more complicated). Therefore, there are two critical factors in determining why a fracture occurs:

• the energy of the event
• the strength of the bone

The energy can being acute, high-energy (e.g. car crash), or chronic, low-energy (e.g. stress fracture). The bone strength can either be normal or decreased (e.g. osteoporosis). A very simple problem, the broken bone, just became a whole lot more complicated!

Statistics
Orthopedic surgeons treat fractures throughout the skeletal frame, except for the skull (neurosurgeon) and face (ENT, or ear, nose, and throat, surgeon). Extremity fractures are most common, and usually occur in men younger than age 45, and then become more common in women over age 45. The reason for the difference is when women go through menopause, and stop producing estrogen, the rate of bone loss increases. This is why women are particularly susceptible to osteoporosis and subsequent fractures. The most common fracture prior to age 75 is a wrist fracture. In those over age 75, hip fractures become the most common broken bone.

Treatment of Broken Bones