What term describes a fracture where the bone breaks the skin?

• A. Open fracture
• B. Closed fracture
• C. Greenstick fracture
• D. Comminuted fracture

Answer: (A)

An open fracture is a fracture in which the broken bone breaks through the skin, creating an external wound. The defining feature is the skin breach, which means the fracture is exposed to the outside environment. This exposure elevates the risk of infection and soft tissue injury, so management emphasizes prompt antibiotics and tetanus prophylaxis, urgent surgical debridement if needed, and stabilization of the bone.

The other patterns describe fracture mechanics without skin breaking: a closed fracture has intact skin; a greenstick fracture is an incomplete break (bone bends and cracks, usually in children); a comminuted fracture means the bone is broken into several fragments. None of these require skin breach by definition, so they don’t describe an open fracture.