Bones are one of the hardest human body parts and they can be very difficult to break, however, they are not absolutely immune to damage. If enough force is applied to them, the can indeed break into pieces. A comminuted fracture is a type of injury where the bone breaks into more than two pieces.

For a bone to sustain such an injury, it must have been subjected to a considerable amount of force, for instance a car accident. These fractures require surgery to properly heal and allow the person to return to their normal activities.

Comminuted fractures can be either open or closed. When they are open they tend to lead to complications because internal tissues of the body are exposed to the environment and are prone to infection.

Causes of a comminuted fracture

• Age and bone disease

Even though a very large amount of force is normally needed to cause a comminuted fracture, it is possible for it to happen without too much effort in cases of weakened bones that have become more fragile. Conditions like a bone tumor, osteoporosis, osteosarcoma and osteogenesis imperfecta can result what would normally be a simple fracture or a bruise, in a comminuted fracture.

Another risk factor is age. With age women tend to lose minerals that contribute to bone strength such as calcium, after they hit menopause. Heavy smokers also have the tendency of having weaker bones.

• Accidents

In most cases, these fractures come about as the result of an accident or a mishap. However, they can occur if this accident has a lot of weight and force involved. For example, car accidents, falling from a high place or gunshot wound are the most common.

Symptoms

This fracture is particularly painful; some even describing it as excruciating agony. The reasons behind this injury being more painful than other fractures is that several pain receptors surround the bone, and the bone being in pieces and in movement will trigger pain constantly.

Also the swelling that goes with the injury and the muscles that are likely to contact the cracked bone and its sharp edges, will also add more painful triggers.

In some cases the person will black out because of the huge amount of pain they are subjected to. The area will typically swell, the skin will be red and warm too.

The ability to move the affected area will be seriously hampered or even non-existent.

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Treatment

It is not easy to treat this type of fracture. However, there are way to solve it, being the primary objective to reconnect the broken pieces of bone. The doctor will ask for an X-ray and possibly a CT scan to study further the extent of the injury. The steps to treat a comminuted fracture also include:

• Surgery to reassemble the parts of bone through the use of nails, wires, screws and plates. The aim here is to put everything back together so that the healing process is done properly.
• The affected area must be immobilized with casts, supports and mortars.