A compound fracture is a serious type of broken bone where the bone breaks the skin and creates an open wound, so the bone and tissues are exposed to the outside environment.

Quick Scoop

What is a compound fracture?

  • A compound fracture (also called an open fracture) is when a broken bone is associated with a break in the skin at the fracture site.
  • The bone may be visibly sticking out, or there may simply be an open wound that connects down to the fracture.
  • This is different from a “simple” or closed fracture, where the skin remains intact and the bone does not communicate with the outside.

Why is it dangerous?

  • The open wound lets bacteria reach the bone and deep tissues, creating a high risk of infection (including serious bone infection called osteomyelitis).
  • There is often severe damage to muscles, tendons, nerves, and blood vessels around the fracture because these injuries usually come from high‑energy trauma.
  • Without fast treatment, complications can include poor bone healing (nonunion or malunion), permanent deformity, and in extreme cases, limb‑threatening infection or compartment syndrome.

Common causes

  • Road traffic collisions (car, motorcycle, pedestrian impacts).
  • Falls from height, such as ladders, roofs, or stairs.
  • High‑impact sports injuries or crush injuries at work or in industrial settings.

Typical symptoms

  • Sudden, severe pain at the injury site.
  • Obvious deformity of the limb, sometimes with the bone visibly protruding.
  • Open wound with bleeding near where the bone is broken.
  • Swelling, bruising, and inability or extreme difficulty in moving or bearing weight on the limb.

How it’s treated (in brief)

  • This is a medical emergency: the person should be taken to an emergency department as quickly and safely as possible.
  • Doctors clean the wound thoroughly, give antibiotics and often a tetanus shot to reduce infection risk, and perform surgery to align and stabilize the bone (with metal rods, plates, or external frames).
  • A cast or other immobilization plus follow‑up care and physical therapy help the bone and soft tissues heal over weeks to months.

Simple example to picture it

If someone is hit by a car and the shin bone breaks and pushes through the skin of the lower leg, that is a classic compound fracture: the bone is broken and at the same time exposed to the outside through an open wound, which is why it requires urgent hospital treatment.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.