Everything Related to Orthopedics
Posts tagged broken bones
Avoid the Hospital This Summer
0284 days
Summer is a time when you want to spend all of your time outside by pool, grilling, on the beach and doing all the other fun “summer” things. What you don’t want to spend time doing is taking your kids to the hospital because of an injury. With all of the outdoor, physical activities that go on during the summer months, pediatric injuries increase dramatically.
One of the most common injuries during the summer comes from falls. Whether kids are jumping on a trampoline or playing on the playground, hospitals see a lot of kids come in with broken bones and deep cuts from falling. To avoid a trip to the hospital, make sure there is supervision while kids are on a trampoline or playground. Also, try to find a playground that has mulch or rubber tire instead of just blacktop. This can go a long way in avoiding serious injury from a fall.
Another frequent cause of injury for kids comes from riding their bicycle. During summer vacation kids tend to spend a lot of time outside on their bikes. While this is a great form of exercise, it is important to take some safety precautions to avoid serious injury. Most injuries from bicycles are to the arms and legs but the most serious are to the head. When your kids take their bikes out make sure they always wear a helmet. Also be sure that your kids know the proper hand signals and always walk their bikes across busy streets or intersections.
While the weather is hot, a lot of people will spend time by the pool or at the beach. Near-drownings become a serious problem during the summer. Many people may not realize that a person can drown in mere inches of water. To avoid injury, or even worse – death, it is important that parents always supervise their kids while they are in the water. A strong recommendation that could possibly save a child’s life is for all parents to become CPR certified. Also, be sure that children wear proper flotation devices while enjoying the water. A few steps in safety can go a long way in making sure you have a fun, injury free summer!
Fracture Forum – Part 2 of 5
0699 days
by J. Williams
in Orthopedics
One specific type of fracture is a transverse fracture. A transverse fracture is a break that runs perpendicular to the bone. Most times, transverse fractures occur from some sort of direct blow or heavy repetitive action like running. Transverse fractures often occur in high impact sports and car accidents. When a bone suffers a transverse fracture, the bones are misaligned and often need to be adjusted before being set.
Depending on the location and severity of the fracture, doctors can do either an open or closed reduction to realign the bones. In serious fractures, doctors will do an open reduction and have to surgically repair the bone. Surgeons will use plates, pins and or screws to realign the bones and stabilize them for healing. Even if the doctor chooses to do a closed reduction, the patient may still need to go under anesthesia because the bone adjustment can be very painful.
Transverse Fracture
Once the surgeon aligns the bones properly, they will typically cast the fracture site. Transverse fractures can take a long time to heal since the bone completely breaks. Even after the cast is removed, the bone will still need more time to completely heal. Immediate medical attention is the best way to help the healing process and reduce the risk of complications.
