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Broken Arm

Winter Health Hazards: Heart Attacks, Broken Bones, and More Oh My!

Medical Author: Benjamin C. Wedro, MD, FAAEM
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Beware of winter health hazards, show shoveling can cause a heart attack, slips and falls break bones and more Sports aren't the only venues that use scoreboards. Find a hospital emergency department on the first big snowfall of the year, and there may be a running tally of a few common injuries and illnesses. Morbid humor sometimes allows the nurses and doctors to deal with the next patient rolling through the door. While the calendar may technically reflect autumn, an early December blizzard and blizzards throughout the winter will challenge the capacity of emergency services ranging from first responders to emergency departments and operating rooms.

A large amount of snow usually means a large amount of shoveling, and the first listing on the scoreboard is, with apologies to Fred Sanford, "the big one." Clearing a sidewalk or driveway is an aggressive exercise and requires plenty of aerobic capacity to lift and toss shovels full of snow. It's like taking a cardiac stress test without all the medical people around. If there are blockages and narrowing in the coronary arteries (that supply the heart muscles with oxygen), the extra effort required of the heart to push blood to those exercising muscles may be enough to outstrip the heart of its own blood supply and cause a heart attack (myocardial infarction).

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Broken Arm Overview

A broken or fractured arm means that one or more of the bones of the arm have been cracked. This is a common injury occurring in both children and adults. In adults, fractures of the arm account for nearly half of all broken bones. In children, fractures of the forearm are second only to broken collarbones.

Basic anatomy: The arm consists of 3 major bones. The humerus runs from the shoulder to the elbow. This is called the upper arm, or, simply, the arm. At the elbow, the humerus connects with 2 bones: the radius and the ulna. These bones go from the elbow to the wrist and are regarded as the forearm.
Important terms related to a broken arm
- Alignment: The relationship of how the broken portions of the bone come together. This is an indication of how badly a bone is broken.
- Angulation: The angle formed by the broken pieces of bone. Another measure of the seriousness of the break.
- Closed fracture: A broken bone without an open skin wound
- Comminuted fracture: A bone that is broken in multiple pieces
- Dislocation: A bone that has come out of a joint
- Displaced fracture: A broken bone with the parts of the bone not aligned
- Fracture: A crack in the bone. This is another word for a broken bone.
- Fracture-dislocation: A broken bone that has also come out of a joint
- Greenstick fracture: An incomplete fracture seen in children where only one side of the bone is broken
- Malunion: Healing of the bone in an unsatisfactory position
- Nonunion: Failure of the pieces of bone to heal back together
- Occult fracture: A broken bone that does not appear initially on the x-rays
- Open fracture (compound fracture): A fracture that has a laceration in the skin overlying the break or a fracture that has a piece of bone sticking through the skin
- Pathologic fracture: A broken bone that is due to a weakness of the bone itself from some other disease