Fracture Repair Process

Lya Böger

Fracture repair process

Causes of Fractures

The stages of fracture healing

causes of fractures

• Bones are very strong
• Bone runs into stronger force (e.g. thrown forward in car crash), which leads to a traumatic fracture
• Bone runs into repetitive force (e.g. running), which leads to a stress fracture
• Bone diseases, which weaken your bones (e.g. osteoporosis) and leads to a spontaneous/pathologic fracture

Why do bones break?

the stages of bone healing

• Also called Hematoma Formation
• Starts immediately after the fraction occurs
• blood vessels that were torn by the fracture release blood (about 48 hours after injury)
• blood clots and forms fracture Hematoma
• Immune system gets active (kills germs and gets rid of small bone pieces)
• stage ends approximately 1 week after injury

1. The inflammatory phase

Bone callus

• Starts a few days after bone fracture
• Lasts for about 2-3 weeks
• Body develops cartilage and tissue in/around fracture site

• Cartilage forms a soft collar at broken ends (replaces blood clot)
• Cartilage parts eventually meet each other and form a callus (stabalize structure)
• Osteoblasts from the periosteum invade hematoma
• Trabecular bone (spongy bone) replaces tissue and forms a bony callus over the next weeks

2. The repairing phase

• Final phase in fracture repair process
• Osteoblasts form new bone
• Solid bone replaces the spongy bone

• After completion, osteoclasts remove excessive bone tissue and restore bone shape

3. The bone remodeling phase

• Average healing time is 6 to 8 weeks
• Time varies from person to person and depends on severity of injury and bone (some bones heal faster than others)

• Doctors can support healing process (casts, screws & plates, rods, wires, nails)

How long does a fracture take to heal?

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/fracture-1?lang=us

https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/ss/slideshow-break-bone-what-happens

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15241-bone-fractures

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322419#three-stages-of-bone-healing

Sources

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