What are depressed fractures?

What are depressed fractures?

A depressed skull fracture is a break in a cranial bone (or “crushed” portion of skull) with depression of the bone in toward the brain. A compound fracture involves a break in, or loss of, skin and splintering of the bone.

How is a depressed fracture caused?

Depressed skull fractures, as shown in the image below, result from a high-energy direct blow to a small surface area of the skull with a blunt object such as a baseball bat. Comminution of fragments starts from the point of maximum impact and spreads centrifugally.

Who is most likely to suffer a depressed fracture?

[5,9,10,11] The higher ratio in males could be explained due to thicker and stronger skull in males which can absorb the impact force. Hence, males are more likely to get depressed fracture while females are more prone to linear fractures.

How is a depressed skull fracture treated?

Methods: Elevation and debridement is recommended as the surgical method of choice. Primary bone fragment replacement is a surgical option in the absence of wound infection at the time of surgery. All management strategies for open (compound) depressed fractures should include antibiotics.

Can a depressed fracture heal itself?

Most skull fractures will heal by themselves, particularly if they’re simple linear fractures. The healing process can take many months, although any pain will usually disappear in around 5 to 10 days. If you have an open fracture, antibiotics may be prescribed to prevent an infection developing.

Do depressed skull fractures heal?

The healing process can take many months, although any pain will usually disappear in around 5 to 10 days. If you have an open fracture, antibiotics may be prescribed to prevent an infection developing. If you have a severe or depressed fracture, surgery may be needed to help prevent brain damage.

How are depression fractures treated?

Is a depressed skull fracture serious?

Depressed skull fractures could result in not only cosmetic issues, but also potential for further injury to the brain if the fracture isn’t corrected. Surgery may also be necessary if the depression puts pressure on the brain or if there’s cerebrospinal fluid leakage.

What does a depressed skull fracture feel like?

Signs of open or depressed skull fracture or penetrating head injury are: Clear fluid running from the ears or nose. Black eye with no associated damage around the eyes. Bleeding from one or both ears and/or bruising behind one or both ears.

Can you fracture your skull and not know it?

In some cases, as in an open or depressed fracture, it may be easy to see that the skull is broken. Sometimes, though, the fracture isn’t obvious. Serious symptoms of a skull fracture include: bleeding from the wound caused by the trauma, near the location of the trauma, or around the eyes, ears, and nose.

How are fractures related to depression in women?

Results A total of 296 women with fracture (12 hip, 48 vertebral, 91 wrist/forearm, 17 upper arm, 7 pelvis, 11 rib, 62 lower leg and 48 other fractures) and 590 women without fracture were included. Associations between fracture and depression differed between younger (≤65 years) and older (>65 years) women.

Where does a depressed skull fracture usually occur?

Depressed skull fractures result in the bone of the skull vault being folded (depressed) inward into the cerebral parenchyma. It is usually the result of a high energy impact to the skull. These mostly (~75%) occur in the frontoparietal region 3.

What causes a compression fracture in the back?

A compression fracture is a type of broken bone that can cause your vertebrae to collapse, making them shorter. This often happens to the front of the vertebrae but not the back, causing you to stoop forward over time.Compression fractures are caused by: Osteoporosis, a weakening of the bones that can occur in postmenopausal women and older men.

Is there time lag between fracture and depression?

The time lag between fracture and depression measurement, an inability to provide pre-event psychiatric status and the use of a self-report instrument to determine depression are limitations.