How many days does it take for the swelling of a fracture to subside

Generally speaking, fractures cause great damage to the whole body, and the patient needs to rest for a long time before gradually getting better. Within a week or two, the patient will feel swelling in the affected limb, and it will take some time for the swelling to gradually subside. Some patients may go into shock directly if the condition is more serious, and these need to be corrected as soon as possible.

Most fractures generally cause only local manifestations, severe fractures and multiple fractures can cause systemic reactions.

1. Systemic manifestations

1. The main cause of shock is bleeding at the fracture site, especially pelvic fracture, femoral shaft fracture, multiple fractures, etc. The amount of bleeding can be as high as 2000ml or more. Severe pain or concurrent visceral damage can also cause shock.

2. Fever: Generally, the body temperature is normal after a fracture, but in some fractures with heavy bleeding, a low fever may occur when the hematoma is absorbed, usually not exceeding 38°C. The possibility of infection should be considered in patients with open fractures who present with high fever.

2. Local manifestations

1. General manifestations of fractures

1) Local pain: Pain and obvious tenderness often occur at the fracture site. Pressing or tapping the fracture site from a distance can also cause indirect tenderness at the fracture site.

2) Swelling and ecchymosis: In fractures, the affected limb swells due to local vascular rupture and bleeding and edema after soft tissue injury. In severe cases, tension blisters may occur. If the fracture site is relatively superficial, the decomposition of hemoglobin in the hematoma may result in purple, blue or yellow subcutaneous ecchymosis.

3) Functional impairment: Pain and swelling at the fracture site cause the affected limb to lose some or all of its mobility.

2. Specific signs of fracture

1) Deformity: Due to the displacement of the fracture segment, the injured part loses its normal shape, which is mainly manifested as shortening, angulation, and rotation deformity.

2) Abnormal activities: Parts of the limbs that cannot move under normal circumstances will show abnormal activities after a fracture.

3) Bone crepitus or bone friction sensation: Bone crepitus or bone friction sensation may occur when the fracture segments rub against each other after a fracture, but it should not be repeatedly and actively verified during physical examination to avoid increasing the patient's pain and local soft tissue damage.

As long as any one of the above three specific signs appears, a fracture can be diagnosed. However, when these three signs are not seen, fractures are not ruled out. For example, impacted fractures and fissure fractures may not show the above signs. When there is soft tissue embedded between the fracture ends, there may be no bone crepitus or bone friction sensation. When deformity occurs, it should be differentiated from joint dislocation. The three signs should only be paid attention to during the examination and should not be caused intentionally to avoid increasing the patient's pain, causing the stable fracture to shift, or causing the sharp fracture ends to damage blood vessels, nerves and other soft tissues.