I need help with a medical question

[tay_21]

I need to know what kind of fracture you get from having your arm twisted/puled up behind your back?  I'm currently in the middle of internet research fail.  

Please help!!!!

Comments

[evenstar-estel.livejournal.com]

Does the bone snap or twist in half? If so, compound fracture.

[tay-21.livejournal.com]

That sounds believable. I just don't want to deal with the bone coming out of the skin. Bad internal break, yes, sticking out, no.

[evenstar-estel.livejournal.com]

Actually, here you go, all questions answered:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_fracture

[tay-21.livejournal.com]

The only problem is there is almost too much information. I don't know which fracture matches up with that particular type of injury. :-/

[evenstar-estel.livejournal.com]

OrthopedicIn orthopedic medicine, fractures are classified in various ways. Historically they are named after the doctor who first described the fracture conditions. However, there are more systematic classifications in place currently.

All fractures can be broadly described as:

Closed (simple) fractures are those in which the skin is intact

Open (compound) fractures involve wounds that communicate with the fracture, or where fracture hematoma is exposed, and may thus expose bone to contamination. Open injuries carry a higher risk of infection.
Other considerations in fracture care are displacement (fracture gap) and angulation. If angulation or displacement is large, reduction (manipulation) of the bone may be required and, in adults, frequently requires surgical care. These injuries may take longer to heal than injuries without displacement or angulation.

Compression fractures usually occurs in the vertebrae, for example when the front portion of a vertebra in the spine collapses due to osteoporosis (a medical condition which causes bones to become brittle and susceptible to fracture, with or without trauma).
Other types of fracture are:

Complete fracture: A fracture in which bone fragments separate completely.

Incomplete fracture: A fracture in which the bone fragments are still partially joined. In such cases, there is a crack in the osseous tissue that does not completely traverse the width of the bone.[1]

Linear fracture: A fracture that is parallel to the bone's long axis.

Transverse fracture: A fracture that is at a right angle to the bone's long axis.

Oblique fracture: A fracture that is diagonal to a bone's long axis.

Spiral fracture: A fracture where at least one part of the bone has been twisted.

Comminuted fracture: A fracture in which the bone has broken into a number of pieces.

Impacted fracture: A fracture caused when bone fragments are driven into each other.

[tay-21.livejournal.com]

See what I mean? I don't know how to match it to that particular injury. I'm guessing spiral and maybe Comminuted or Impacted.

[evenstar-estel.livejournal.com]

Not comminuted... that means they have to go in and remove floaty bone chunks, which can't be reattached. Also not impacted. I'm going to say spiral fracture is the safest.

[tay-21.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Can you tell I've never broken anything other than a toe. I *may* have fractured my wrists when I was a little kid by jumping out of a tree and catching myself with my arms. I didn't tell anybody, but they hurt. AND, I can feel it when the weather changes in my wrists. I still have a lot of issues with them, even 20 years later.