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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.
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If you are awake, your doctor will test for sensation and movement in your leg and foot.
Nondisplaced transverse fracture skin#
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Nondisplaced transverse fracture driver#
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:
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Whether the skin and muscle over the bone is torn by the injury.The pattern of the fracture (for example, the bone can break in different directions, such as crosswise, lengthwise, or in the middle).The location of the fracture (the femoral shaft is divided into thirds: distal, middle, proximal).Femur fractures are classified depending on: The skin around the fracture may be intact (closed fracture) or the bone may puncture the skin (open fracture).ĭoctors describe fractures to each other using classification systems. The pieces of bone may line up correctly (stable fracture) or be out of alignment (displaced fracture). Femur fractures vary greatly, depending on the force that causes the break.
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