Types
How We Can Help You for a Long Bone Fracture
A long bone fracture is a crack or break in one of the body’s long bones, such as the arms or legs. This condition requires immediate medical attention, even if the injury doesn’t cause severe pain.
The board-certified orthopaedic specialists of Stanford Health Care have the training and experience needed to effectively treat complex long bone fractures.
Our skilled specialists work closely together to develop a complete care plan customized to your condition and unique needs. The goal of the plan is to help relieve your symptoms, which may include pain, tenderness, or swelling in the injured area.
Beyond relieving symptoms, your personalized care plan is designed to reduce your pain and restore function, so you can return to your normal lifestyle and activities.
Stanford Health Care patients with long bone fractures also may have opportunities to participate in research studies of new treatment approaches not yet available anywhere else.
What We Offer You For a Long Bone Fracture
- Center of Excellence for advanced care of long bone fractures and the full spectrum of orthopaedic conditions.
- Nationally recognized expertise in treating all cases of long bone fractures, no matter how complex.
- Precise diagnosis including a thorough physical exam plus use of the latest imaging technology, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and computerized tomography (CT) scans.
- Team-based treatment planning that brings together orthopaedic trauma surgeons, rehabilitation specialists, physical therapists, and other dedicated professionals to tailor care to your needs.
- Advanced treatment options emphasizing nonsurgical approaches such as medication therapy, a cast or splint, walking aids, or physical therapy. When needed, we also offer minimally invasive surgical procedures performed by highly skilled orthopaedic trauma surgeons.
- Comprehensive support services including care coordination from diagnosis to treatment to follow-up.
- Active research program to develop new diagnostic and treatment advances for the management of long bone fractures.
Treatment for a Long Bone Fracture
A long bone fracture is a crack or break in one of the body’s long bones, such as the arms or legs. Our skilled orthopaedic surgeons use the latest techniques to treat all types of long bone fractures.
Some minor long bone fractures may heal with conservative treatment, such as casting and physical therapy. Most long bone fractures require surgery to stabilize injured bones while they mend, especially when bone fragments break through the skin.
Our treatment goal is to reduce your pain and restore function, so you can move normally again and stay active. Our nationally recognized specialists also treat long bone fractures that haven’t healed properly due to a failed surgery or serious injury.
Our orthopaedic surgeons successfully treat the most complex long bone fractures, including arm and leg injuries that don’t heal correctly.
Nonsurgical Treatment
Surgery
Our orthopaedic specialists work with you to develop a treatment plan that considers all aspects of your injury and overall health. We treat some minor arm and leg fractures using nonsurgical therapies, such as:
Medication: Medications like ibuprofen can reduce pain and swelling near the injury site. If over-the-counter medications aren’t enough to control your pain, your doctor may recommend a prescription-strength pain reliever to keep you comfortable.
Walking aids: If you have a broken leg, your doctor may recommend keeping weight off it as much as possible. Our team helps you find aids, such as crutches or a wheelchair, that keep you mobile while your injury heals.
Physical therapy: Certain exercises and stretches help strengthen your muscles and increase your range of motion. Physical therapy can help you move the affected area more easily after a long bone fracture heals. When and how often we recommend physical therapy during your recovery depends on your injury. Our board-certified rehabilitation specialists partner with you to develop a personalized plan that fits your lifestyle and goals.
Casting or splinting: Depending on the fracture’s location, your doctor may recommend you wear a splint, boot, or plaster cast for several weeks. Immobilizing the injured bones allows them to safely heal and helps prevent further damage to bones or nearby tissues.
Closed reduction: Your doctor may choose to gently guide bones back into place without surgery. Our specialists use this procedure to treat fractures where bones have shifted just slightly out of place. A closed reduction usually happens right before we immobilize the injured bones with a cast or brace.
Traction: Surgeons use weights and pulleys, attached to a bed, to stretch muscles and tendons around a fracture. The traction (pulling force) moves bones back into their natural position. Doctors typically recommend this procedure soon after an injury happens.
Long bone fractures, such as breaks in the femur (thighbone), often need surgery to repair damaged tissues. Surgeons may also use pins or plates to provide extra support, so bones safely stay in place as they heal.
Our orthopaedic surgeons are skilled in minimally invasive and traditional (open) techniques, always choosing the least invasive therapy for your situation. Stanford’s surgeons are known for their expertise in treating the most severe long bone injuries. Those conditions include arm and leg fractures that don’t heal properly (called nonunions or malunions).
Surgery options include:
Internal fixation: Surgeons carefully move bones into the correct position. They often use metal tools, such as nails, pins, or plates, to keep broken long bone fragments together while they heal.
Bone grafting: Surgeons may reconstruct a fractured bone when some pieces have been broken or crushed beyond repair. Surgeons rebuild the fractured bone(s) using healthy bone tissue from another part of your body or a donor.
External fixation: Surgeons stabilize severely fractured bones to metal rods or pins outside your body. This external frame connects to metal pieces attached to your bones, providing extra support so injured bones stay in place.
Our orthopaedic specialists work with you to develop a treatment plan that considers all aspects of your injury and overall health. We treat some minor arm and leg fractures using nonsurgical therapies, such as:
Medication: Medications like ibuprofen can reduce pain and swelling near the injury site. If over-the-counter medications aren’t enough to control your pain, your doctor may recommend a prescription-strength pain reliever to keep you comfortable.
Walking aids: If you have a broken leg, your doctor may recommend keeping weight off it as much as possible. Our team helps you find aids, such as crutches or a wheelchair, that keep you mobile while your injury heals.
Physical therapy: Certain exercises and stretches help strengthen your muscles and increase your range of motion. Physical therapy can help you move the affected area more easily after a long bone fracture heals. When and how often we recommend physical therapy during your recovery depends on your injury. Our board-certified rehabilitation specialists partner with you to develop a personalized plan that fits your lifestyle and goals.
Casting or splinting: Depending on the fracture’s location, your doctor may recommend you wear a splint, boot, or plaster cast for several weeks. Immobilizing the injured bones allows them to safely heal and helps prevent further damage to bones or nearby tissues.
Closed reduction: Your doctor may choose to gently guide bones back into place without surgery. Our specialists use this procedure to treat fractures where bones have shifted just slightly out of place. A closed reduction usually happens right before we immobilize the injured bones with a cast or brace.
Traction: Surgeons use weights and pulleys, attached to a bed, to stretch muscles and tendons around a fracture. The traction (pulling force) moves bones back into their natural position. Doctors typically recommend this procedure soon after an injury happens.
close Nonsurgical Treatment
Long bone fractures, such as breaks in the femur (thighbone), often need surgery to repair damaged tissues. Surgeons may also use pins or plates to provide extra support, so bones safely stay in place as they heal.
Our orthopaedic surgeons are skilled in minimally invasive and traditional (open) techniques, always choosing the least invasive therapy for your situation. Stanford’s surgeons are known for their expertise in treating the most severe long bone injuries. Those conditions include arm and leg fractures that don’t heal properly (called nonunions or malunions).
Surgery options include:
Internal fixation: Surgeons carefully move bones into the correct position. They often use metal tools, such as nails, pins, or plates, to keep broken long bone fragments together while they heal.
Bone grafting: Surgeons may reconstruct a fractured bone when some pieces have been broken or crushed beyond repair. Surgeons rebuild the fractured bone(s) using healthy bone tissue from another part of your body or a donor.
External fixation: Surgeons stabilize severely fractured bones to metal rods or pins outside your body. This external frame connects to metal pieces attached to your bones, providing extra support so injured bones stay in place.
close Surgery
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Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate a new medical approach, device, drug, or other treatment. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may be eligible to participate in open clinical trials.
Open trials refer to studies that are currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future.
What is a Long Bone Fracture?
Our Clinics
Stanford’s highly skilled orthopaedic trauma surgeons specialize in treating complex broken arm and leg injuries. We treat all types of long bone fractures, providing special expertise for fractures that don’t heal properly due to a failed surgery or serious injury.
450 Broadway Street
450 Broadway StreetRedwood City, CA 94063
Phone: 650-723-5643 Getting Here
To schedule an appointment, please call 650-723-5643.