Fracture Information

Treatment of Broken Bones

By Jonathan Cluett, M.D., About.com Guide

Updated November 05, 2010

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

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Fracture Treatment

Bone is constantly in a state of turnover, even when not damaged or injured. We continually absorb and replace the cells that make up our bones. Because of this natural turnover, the process of healing bone also comes about quite naturally.

However, in order for a fracture to heal as well as possible, a good reduction, or placement, of the bones must be attained.

When doctors talk about reduction or a fracture, or reducing the broken bone, they are talking about improving the alignment of the broken ends of the bone.

In most cases reducing a fracture involves placing the broken bone in a cast, often after a little pulling and tugging to achieve improved alignment. If the reduction cannot be satisfactorily achieved (meaning the alignment is either not adequate or not sufficiently stable), then a further procedure may be necessary. This usually means surgery with fixation of the bone with pins, plates, screws or rods.

One potential complication of fracture treatment is either a mal-union or non-union of bone. This problem is more common in elderly individuals and in people who sustain more severe fractures. In the case of some fractures (e.g. hip fracture in elderly) the rate of non-union is high enough that instead of trying to heal the bone, the damaged segment of bone is replaced (e.g. hip replacement).

The treatment of a specific fracture is too complicated to be discussed in a general overview of broken bones, but depends on factors such as:

Location of the fracture
Severity of angulation or deformity
Potential for healing
Other injuries
Age and activity level of the patient
And many more factors....

In order to understand your treatment, and the options you may have for treatment, you need to discuss your fracture with your doctor. Because treatments are individualized based on the patient, the x-ray appearance of the fracture, and the other factors mentioned, each case must be treated individually.

Underlying Problems
The most common cause of fractures is due to trauma. However, especially in the elderly, broken bones often occur where the bone has been weakened by an underlying process. This is called a "pathologic fracture," which means that there is some pathology, or disease process, that caused the bone to be weak and highly susceptible to fracture. Common diseases that lead to pathologic fracture include osteoporosis and tumors.