Bone Fracture: Symptoms

Any bone in our body can theoretically break. However, some bones in our body are much more susceptible to fracture than others – especially from falls. There are “predetermined breaking points,” to use a somewhat technical term, in the body that are particularly prone to fracture. Of these, the femoral neck is the best known and the most important for everyday life. However, a broken arm is also relatively common. Which bone fractures are most common and how to recognize a fracture, you will learn below.

Bone fracture: symptoms and signs

The bone itself has few nerve endings that transmit pain. However, the periosteum surrounding the bone is extremely sensitive to injury and even pressure from the outside – which is familiar to anyone who has received a kick or bump in front of the rather unprotected shin bone. The following symptoms can occur in the event of a bone fracture:

  • Pain
  • A restriction of movement, such as lack of function of the joint.
  • A swelling
  • Crunching or other sounds when moving as a sure sign of a fracture
  • Misalignment of the bone is also a definite symptom
  • Abnormal mobility is also a clear indication of a bone fracture
  • Possibly blood loss may occur depending on the size of the bone and type of fracture, which can be as little as two liters in the case of a femur fracture, and a life-threatening five liters in the case of a pelvic fracture, while in the case of a nose fracture does not even have to nosebleed

In addition, the ends of the bones can injure the surrounding tissue, pierce blood vessels and nerves, and even pass through the skin into the open air (a so-called open fracture).

How do you recognize a bone fracture?

In some cases, the clear symptoms described above are enough to identify a bone fracture. For a definite diagnosis, you should see a doctor, preferably a doctor of orthopedics or trauma surgery. He or she will take X-rays, because bone structures can be seen in detail on them: deviations from the normal bone structure, irregularities in the edge contour, even the smallest compressions and detachment of the periosteum from the bone can be detected. Since the X-ray images are always taken in two planes, it is also clear whether a bending, shearing, twisting or spiral fracture, a compression or avulsion fracture is present. X-rays also usually show when a bone is merely broken, although fine hairline cracks may be missed.

Other examinations

In addition to X-rays of the fractured bone, a physician should always check for impaired motor function, sensation, and peripheral circulation, which may indicate that blood vessels, nerves, or tendons are injured. In polytrauma patients, people with multiple fractures and injuries, such as those resulting from a car accident, CT scans provide information about which organs are still affected. CT scans are also performed for a fracture of the pelvis or spine. Common types of fractures and their characteristics are presented below.

Fracture of the femoral neck bone.

Fracture of the neck of the femur is one of the most common bone fractures. If you picture the femur, it looks like an elongated “r”: it has a hook at its top end that disappears into the hip joint. This bone taper, the femoral neck bone, is particularly susceptible to fracture because immense forces act on this area of the bone when a sudden leg rotation occurs. So if you fall on your hip joint, for example, there’s a good chance you’ll fracture your femoral neck – the most common fracture in adults, especially in the wintertime.

Arm fracture and rib fracture

The bones of the forearm are also particularly vulnerable. The impact on frozen, slippery ground and the force on the forearm bone when we make a bracing motion in the fall are so strong that the affected bone breaks. If an arm is fractured, in addition to the above symptoms, there may be tingling, numbness or cold sensation in the hand. In addition, fractures of ribs, the humerus, and the ankle often occur. Fractures of the collarbone – so-called clavicle fractures – also occur frequently.

Bone fractures of hand and foot

A fall from a great height or a particularly strong crushing force acting on the feet and hands can result in hand and tarsal fractures that are difficult to repair. Once the foot or hand is broken, the bones often heal poorly back together because the blood supply to the bones in these areas is very difficult.

Polytrauma after a traffic accident

In the case of injuries caused by traffic accidents, it is often not just a single region of the body that is affected, but a large number of bones, joints and organs at the same time – the medical profession then refers to this as a polytrauma. The bones of the extremities are often broken in a complicated way and even such stable bones as the pelvis are affected. Pelvic fractures are particularly dangerous because they result in immense blood loss and require urgent surgical treatment.

Skull fracture and fracture of the vertebral bones.

Vertebral bones can also break frequently in traffic accidents. In this case, there is a great risk that the bone fragments will crush the spinal cord, which can result in paraplegia or immediate death, depending on the location of the fracture. Skull fractures also occur only with very strong force, and in this case the crushing of the brain tissue can lead to life-threatening bleeding and loss of function.