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Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · Burns, Fractures and Sprains

Fracture

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

/ˈfræktʃər/nounCore term

In emergency medicine & first aid, fracture means: A break or crack in a bone, from a thin crack that barely shows on an X-ray to a bone broken into several pieces.

In Turkish: kırık

How it is used

The formal word; patients usually say 'broken'. Fractures are described as open or closed, displaced or undisplaced, and by the bone involved. A 'suspected fracture' has not yet been confirmed on an X-ray. The verb is common too: 'He fractured his wrist.'

Example sentences

  1. The X-ray shows a fracture of the left wrist.

  2. We'll treat it as a suspected fracture until it's been X-rayed.

Common collocations

  • suspected fracture
  • open fracture
  • hip fracture
  • hairline fracture
  • displaced fracture
  • open fractureA broken bone where the skin over it is also broken, so the bone may be visible and the fracture is exposed to infection.
  • splintA rigid or padded support fastened along an injured limb to stop it moving, reduce pain and prevent further damage.
  • dislocationAn injury in which a bone is forced out of its normal position in a joint, such as the shoulder, a finger or the kneecap.
  • sprainAn injury to a ligament, the tough tissue that joins bones at a joint, caused by twisting or stretching it too far; ankles and wrists are most often affected.
  • immobilizeTo keep an injured part of the body from moving, using a splint, sling, collar or stretcher, to reduce pain and further damage.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Burns, Fractures and Sprains

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.