Complete fracture
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Olivier M, Hacking C, Jones J, et al. Complete fracture. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 22 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-28696
rID:
28696
Article created:
19 Apr 2014,
Marlyson Olivier
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Marlyson Olivier had no recorded disclosures.
View Marlyson Olivier's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:
- Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosures
Revisions:
6 times, by
5 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
Systems:
Tags:
Synonyms:
- Complete fractures
- Complete bone fracture
- Complete bone fractures
Complete fractures are fractures where the parts of the bone that have been fractured are completely separated from each other. There is complete separation of the cortex circumferentially. Occasionally these fractures are termed bicortical as the involve both of the opposing cortices.
Complete fractures can be classified as:
transverse: straight across the bone
oblique: oblique line across the bone
spiral: looks like a cork-screw
longitudinal: along the long-axis of the bone
comminuted: more than 2 parts to the fracture
In contrast, incomplete fractures do not traverse the entire width of the bone (unicortical).
References
- 1. Greenspan A. Orthopedic Imaging. LWW. ISBN:1608312879. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
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