Anatomy of Bones and Fractures

Fractures and Bones

• A patella is also known as a kneecap
• A tibia is also known as a shinbone
• A fracture is a partial or complete break in the bone
• A pathological fracture is a broken bone caused by disease, often by the spread of cancer to the bone
• Types of fractures:
  • Greenstick: a bone that bends and cracks, but does not break completely
  • Displaced: a bone that breaks into two or more pieces and moves out of alignment
  • Comminuted: a broken bone that breaks into more than two pieces
  • Impacted: two pieces of a fractured bone that are driven into each other
  • Open (compound): a fracture with an open wound or break in the skin near the site of the broken bone
  • Fatigue (stress) fracture: tiny cracks in a bone caused by repetitive stress or overuse

Treatment of Fractures

• Reduction: the correction of a fracture, replacing the fragments in their anatomical position if they are displaced
• Fixation: a surgical procedure that stabilizes and joins the ends of fractured bones using mechanical devices
• Fracture union: a gradual, continuous process whereby the strength of a broken bone is restored by bone regeneration

Symptoms and Signs

• Symptoms: changes in the body or mind that indicate illness
• Signs: what a doctor finds on examining a patient, also known as findings
• Presenting symptom: the symptom that causes a patient to visit a doctor
• Describing symptoms:
  • Tiredness: feeling of wanting to sleep or rest
  • Lethargy: state of having no energy or enthusiasm for doing things
  • Fatigue: feeling extremely tired
  • Lassitude: lack of energy
  • Malaise: general feeling of being unwell
  • Anorexia: mental illness causing extreme control of food intake, leading to dangerous weight loss

Blood

• Full blood count (FBC): measures the amount of haemoglobin, number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in a sample of blood
• Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR): measures how quickly red blood cells fall to the bottom of a sample of blood
• Anaemia: medical condition characterized by too few red cells or too little haemoglobin in the blood
• Types of anaemia:
  • Severe anaemia: may increase the risk of developing complications affecting the heart or lungs
  • Leukemia: serious disease characterized by too many white blood cells
  • Aplastic anaemia: rare but serious blood condition where bone marrow cannot make enough new blood cells
  • Iron deficiency anaemia: condition where a lack of iron in the body leads to a reduction in red blood cells

Learn about the different types of bones, including the kneecap and shinbone, and understand various types of fractures, such as pathological, greenstick, and displaced fractures.