A 28-year-old man flips over an all-terrain vehicle, and he lands on his leg. On physical examination, there is intense pain on palpation over the right shin, but there is no shortening of the limb. The overlying skin is intact. A radiograph shows right tibial and fibular midshaft fracture into multiple bone fragments. Which of the following terms best describes these fractures?
When the bone is splintered into fragments, the fracture is comminuted, and will likely require orthopedic appliances to align fragments for healing. A compound fracture penetrates the skin. Displaced fractures have nonaligned bone, and some deformity may result. The bone remains contiguous with an incomplete fracture that does not extend completely across the shaft of the bone. A pathologic fracture occurs in a location weakened by a preexisting disease, such as a metastatic lesion.
Comminuted
Compound
Displaced
Incomplete
Osteology