![]() ![]() ![]() Skeletal traction is a pulley system of weights and counterweights that holds the broken pieces of bone together. This is to keep your broken bones as aligned as possible and to maintain the length of your leg. ![]() The open wound, tissues, and bone will be cleaned during surgery.įor the time between initial emergency care and your surgery, your doctor may place your leg either in a long-leg splint or in traction. To reduce the risk of infection, open fractures are treated with antibiotics as soon as you arrive at the hospital. On occasion, fixation will be delayed until other life-threatening injuries or unstable medical conditions are stabilized. Most femur fractures are fixed within 24 to 48 hours. For more information on that, see Thighbone (Femur) Fractures in Children. Very young children are sometimes treated with a cast. It is unusual for femoral shaft fractures to be treated without surgery. Most femoral shaft fractures require surgery to heal. They can also show the type of fracture and where it is located within the femur. X-rays can show whether a bone is intact or broken. The most common way to evaluate a fracture is with x-rays, which provide clear images of bone. Imaging tests will provide your doctor with more information about your injury. If you are awake, your doctor will test for sensation and movement in your leg and foot. Bony pieces that may be pushing on the skinĪfter the visual inspection, your doctor will feel along your thigh, leg, and foot looking for abnormalities and checking the tightness of the skin and muscles around your thigh.An obvious deformity of the thigh/leg (an unusual angle, twisting, or shortening of the leg).He or she will assess your overall condition, and then focus on your leg. ![]() Your doctor will also ask you if you use tobacco products or are taking any medications.Īfter discussing your injury and medical history, your doctor will do a careful examination. It is also important for your doctor to know if you have any other health conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, or allergies. This information will help your doctor determine how you were hurt and whether you may be hurt somewhere else. For example, if you were in a car accident, it would help your doctor to know how fast you were going, whether you were the driver or a passenger, whether you were wearing your seat belt, and if the airbags went off. It is important that your doctor know the specifics of how you hurt your leg. They have a higher risk for complications-especially infections-and take a longer time to heal. Open fractures often involve much more damage to the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments. If a bone breaks in such a way that bone fragments stick out through the skin or a wound penetrates down to the broken bone, the fracture is called an open or compound fracture. In most cases, the number of bone fragments corresponds with the amount of force needed to break the bone. In this type of fracture, the bone has broken into three or more pieces. A twisting force to the thigh causes this type of fracture.Ĭomminuted fracture. The fracture line encircles the shaft like the stripes on a candy cane. This type of fracture has an angled line across the shaft. In this type of fracture, the break is a straight horizontal line going across the femoral shaft. The most common types of femoral shaft fractures include:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |