Fracture in which the bone breaks and bone extends through the skin is called what?

• A. Doheny fracture
• B. Fatigue fracture or stress fracture
• C. Fusion
• D. Compound fracture

Answer: (D)

When a fracture breaks the skin and the bone is exposed, the injury is called an open fracture, also known as a compound fracture. The defining feature is a skin wound with the bone or fracture site communicating with the outside, which raises the risk of infection and requires more urgent and aggressive management than a closed fracture. Timely care usually includes immobilization, wound cleaning, antibiotics, tetanus assessment, and often surgical fixation to clean the wound and realign the bone.

This isn’t a fatigue (stress) fracture, which arises from repetitive stress on a normal, intact bone and does not involve the bone breaking through the skin. It isn’t fusion, which refers to permanently joining two bones together, not a fracture. And “Doheny fracture” isn’t a standard medical term for a fracture.