Broken Ends Of The Bone example essay topic

Injury report: Open fracture of the Radius. A triathlon involves swimming, running and then biking a set track. A triathlete fell from his bike during training, due to the wet road. He landed awkwardly on his bike. His Radius was broken because he landed with his arm on the handle bars of the bike. The force at which he landed on the handle bars caused his Radius to break and pierce the skin.

A cracked bone is called a fracture. Fractures are most likely to occur in the limb bones. (Radius and Ulna; Tibia and Fibula) Fractures are named according to the certain features which separate the different types of fracture. o Closed fracture. The bone is broken but the overlying skin surface is not damaged. o Open fracture. The broken ends of the bone have pierced the surface of the skin. o Compound fracture.

The fractured bone has caused other injuries, e.g. the rib may have penetrated the lung. The triathlete has an open fracture of the Radius. (Image 1) As can be seen in the above picture the Radius is a bone in the lower arm, on the same side of the arm as the thumb. As people when falling-outstretch their arms to break their fall-the radius may received several quite heavy blows. This may weaken the joints around the radius and may cause it to dislocate. The triathlete has landed on the side of his radius, and the radius has broken in half and has pierced the skin.

This leaves the body vulnerable to infection and obviously isn't pleasant for the triathlete. Below is an image of the femur and on it is labeled the different types of bone and where they may be found. The white hard bone on the outside is called the compact bone. On the inside of the shaft is the bone marrow. Inside the epiphysis is the spongy bone.

Surrounding the ends of the bone is cartilage which eases movement between bones. Osteo = Bone. The bone marrow produces red and white blood cells. Chon drin = Cartilage. (Image 2) Above is a diagram of the structure of a mature bone. It shows what each different part of the bone looks like under a microscope, and where those parts of bone are found.

The top of this bone is called the head (this also applies to the radius) The long, thin part of the bone that gives the bone its length is called the shaft Immediate first aid... When bones are broken (The following must be done in a way that would prevent further injury) the immediate first aid is to... 1) Tell the casualty to keep still. Steady and support the injured part with your hands. DO NOT MOVE THE PATIENT UNNECESSARILY. 2) If there is a wound, control any bleeding by pressing on the wound with a clean dressing or pad.

Place soft padding over and around the wound, and bandage the dressing and padding in place. 3) For an arm, apply a sling and if necessary, tie a bandage around the arm and body, avoiding the injury. 4) Dial 999 for An ambulance. Raise and support the injured part, if possible. Check the circulation in the hand or foot every 10 minutes. Treatment In order to help this fracture heal it must be kept in a cast, this prevents the bone from moving.

But before the bone can be placed in a cast it must be re-set, this will be difficult with an open fracture because the bone has pierced the skin. The bone must be re-set below the skin. The bone must be placed in the correct position, in order to get the bones to heal. Healed bones are stronger at the point at which they broke. The bone will have to be in a cast for at least six weeks. The skin which was pierced will heal in about 1-2 weeks.

The long term treatment will be to have the bone in a cast this holds the ends of the bone together-without movement-so that they will heal easier. When bones are broken, blood flows out of the blood vessels which have been broken as a result of the injury. It forms a clot around the jagged ends of the bones and quickly hardens. After a few days, the minerals from the sharp ends of the broken bone have been re-absorbed into the blood stream leaving the ends soft and rubbery.

At the same time connective tissue forms a callus (soft bone) to hold the ends of the bone together. Within this 'glue's pe cial cells called osteoblasts (bone matter) appear to strengthen the bone ends, depositing collagen, calcium salts and other materials. After a few weeks new soft bone starts to take the place of repair tissues bridging the gap between the bone ends. When this soft bone (callus) hardens the mended bone can be fully used once more. The material around the damaged area is gradually re-absorbed and replaced by still newer bone so that eventually the site of an injury cannot be detected, even by X-ray. The only way the triathlete could have avoided this injury would be to not cycle in the rain.