Fractures - How Can They Be Diagnosed?

Fracture refers to a partial or a complete break in the bone. Whenever, any kind of fracture happens, it gets classified as either open or closed. Open fractures refer to such situations when the bone tends to poke through the skin and could be seen with the naked eye. The same situation arises when a deep cut tends to expose the bone from the skin. Closed fracture is a condition when even after the bone break, the skin remains intact.

What are the symptoms of a fracture?

There are definite ways through which one could easily make out that he or she has suffered a fracture. Some of the most common symptoms include:

• Swelling of a particular region in the body
• Painful feeling all of a sudden
• Having difficulty in using the injured area and also facing trouble while using it.
• You have a warm feeling over the affected area with a tinge of redness in it.
• It is always preferable to see a doctor for proper diagnosis.
• Now we would go through the details on how to diagnose a fracture.

Diagnosis of a fracture

Generally a doctor would initially ask for the medical history, collecting all the details about how the injury took place, gauge it’s seriousness, examine it physically and then ask the patient to go for certain tests. The tests would generally undertake include the following:

• X-ray: X-ray is the first thing, a doctor would ask a person to get it done, so that through the report, he could get a clear picture about the extent of the fracture. It is a diagnostic test, conducted by using invisible electromagnetic energy beams to ensure pictures of internal tissues, bones appear on film
• MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI is an imaging test conducted by using large magnets, radiofrequencies and a computer, to get detailed pictures of fracture within the affected area.
• CT scan: This is also an imaging test conducted using X-rays and a computer to get the images of the affected area minutely. The scan helps to reveal the details of the bones, muscles and other organs.

How to treat a fracture?

The main aim of the treatment is to ensure that the broken pieces of the bone are put back in place, give patient relief from the pain. Different modes of treatment include:Traction: Traction refers to the use of a pulling action in a steady manner to stretch the muscles and tendon located around the broken area, hence allow the bones to align and heal

• Splint: Splint tends to make the affected area immobile so that the bones are kept in alignment.
• Medicine: Medicine is given so that the pain remains under control
• Surgery: A doctor can go for surgery if he feels that the above treatment methods are not getting things back into shape.

So we have talked about the fracture, the symptoms related to it, how can it get diagnosed and finally the different modes of treatment.