Types of fractures

Fractures can be classified under three main types:

Simple

A simple (or closed) fracture is one where the overlying skin and soft tissues are not damaged and only the bone is significantly injured.

Compound

A compound (or open) fracture is one where the bone pierces the skin and is exposed. In such cases infection of the bone may occur, so this type of fracture is more serious.

Complicated

A complicated fracture is one where damage to adjacent structures such as major blood vessels or nerves has occurred.
A fracture may be a direct break across the shaft of a bone (transverse), slanting (oblique), winding (spiral), or the bone may be shattered into many pieces (comminuted).

After a fracture, the broken fragments of bone often separate to some degree, but occasionally one fragment is driven into the other causing an impacted fracture.