Polite Dissent

Son of Vulcan #2 “Burned”
Scott Beatty, writer
Keron Grant, penciller

The terminology is a little archaic, but Pandora’s knowledge of how to injure someone — and the subsequent medical concerns — is quite good.

“Compound Fracture” is an older term for an open fracture, an injury that occurs when there is a broken bone AND damage to the skin overlying the bone. In the most severe cases, the broken bone itself juts out through the skin, but any situation where there is both a broken bone and a break in the skin is considered an open fracture. Open fractures are dangerous because the opening in the skin allows bacteria and other contaminants to get into the wound and cause infection.

The most common cause of open fractures is a motorcycle accident, followed by other motor vehicle accidents and falls. I’m pretty certain that getting your arm broken by an annoyed android falls into the “miscellaneous” category.

Osteomyelitis is the medical term for a bone infection, and it is a common complication of open fractures. In traumatic injuries, it is usually the outside of the bone (not the bone marrow) that becomes infected, though the infection can spread inward and eventually involve the bone marrow. Osteomyelitis can also occur out of the blue, particularly in children, and in that situation the infection usually starts in the bone marrow and works its way out.

Up until World War I, amputation was the treatment of choice for open fractures. Since then, with the advent of antibiotics and better surgical techniques, amputation has thankfully become a treatment of last resort. Open fractures still have an uncomfortably high risk of infection and aggressive surgery and strong antibiotics are almost always required.

Recovery from an open fracture can be a frustratingly slow process, depending on how severe the injury was and whether infection or any other complications occurred.

• A list of types of fractures (from the review of Teen Titans #26)
• A site focusing on the surgical treatment of open fractures (includes graphic images)
• A good outline review of open fractures.