A broken bone may prove more than inconvenient, especially if it happened during a car accident. In fact, the fracture may require a change in lifestyle, including your job.
Various elements of a fracture factor into the short-term treatment and lasting impacts on your health moving forward. There is a possibility that a fracture can become dangerous and limit your lifestyle.
What is a compound fracture?
Bone breaks vary based on type. For instance, a hairline fracture may not require more than immobilization in a cast and time spent giving it a rest. A compound fracture, however, can become quite serious. You might suffer a compound fracture in a crash where the pressure of the collision causes a bone to snap into multiple pieces.
A compound fracture requires surgery to reset the bone and set it using pins and other hardware to help bones grow back together.
What is an open compound fracture?
Car crashes may not only cause the bones to separate but for one or more of the bones to push through the skin. The resulting open wound may prove problematic for your health. It allows bacteria and debris from the crash to enter the body and infect various parts of the body.
What is the prognosis?
An open compound fracture may require multiple surgeries to remove infected tissue and clean the surrounding areas. In some cases, doctors may have to remove large areas of the muscles and bone to stop the infection from spreading.
Without proper care and treatment, any bone fracture may hinder your lifestyle and path forward after a crash.