Femur Fracture

The femur or thigh bone is the largest and strongest bone in the human system. It requires a very long time to heal if it breaks ever.  Breaking the femur may make everyday activities more challenging as it is one of the highest weight-bearing bones.

What are the symptoms of a broken femur?

• Severe and intense pain in the femur.
• Inability to put weight on the leg.
• The wounded leg appears to be shorter compared to the uninjured leg.
• The wounded leg also appears to be twisted.

Causes of a Femur Fracture

Femoral shaft fractures in younger men and women are mostly due to high impact collisions. The cause of femoral shaft fracture is a motor vehicle or motorcycle accident mostly. Being struck by a car, when walking, could be a second frequent reason next to a fall from heights or from gunshot wounds.

An episode, like a fall from standing, can lead to a femoral shaft fracture in an elderly individual with weak and feeble bones.

Kinds of Femoral Shaft Fractures

Femur fractures vary vastly depending upon the force that causes the breaks. Pieces of bone may line up properly in stable fractures or be out of the standard alignment called displaced fracture. Your skin around the fracture might be intact and this may be called a closed fracture or the bone can puncture the skin like in an open fracture.

Fractures are described by doctor’s basis the following Femur fractures classification:

• The positioning of the fracture – the femoral shaft is divided into thirds – distal, middle, proximal
• The routine of the fracture – For example, the bone could break in various directions; Crosswise, Lengthwise, or even at the Center)
• Whether only the skin and bone are injured or the muscle above the bone is ripped by the injury.

The most frequent kinds of femoral shaft fractures comprise of

• Oblique fracture – This kind of fracture comes with an angled line throughout the shaft.
• Transverse fracture – Within this kind of fracture, the fracture is a straight horizontal line moving across the femoral shaft.
• Comminuted fracture – Within this kind of fracture, the bone has broken into three or more bits. Typically, the number of bone fragments and the quantity correspond.
• Spiral fracture – The rest line encircles the shaft such as the stripes on a candy cane. A twisting force into the thigh induces this kind of fracture.
• Open fracture – When a bone fractures in this manner that bone fragments stick out through the skin or the wound penetrates down to the broken bone, the fracture is known as an open or compound fracture. Open fractures involve harm tendons and ligaments. They require a while to cure – and have a greater risk of complications illnesses.

Since the femur is a very powerful bone, a broken femur, excluding hip fractures, is uncommon. The recovery process takes up going through four stages

• Your system begins the recovery procedure.
• Your body undergoes inflammation.
• Your body regenerates fresh bone development.
• The body remodels with older bone being replaced with newly formed bone.
• Nearly all broken femurs demand surgery and drugs for curing.

Surgery

There are two types of surgeries, either external or internal that immobilize the femur while it is healing.  The most common operation for a broken femur is known as intramedullary nailing. This operation inserts a steel rod under and above the fractured femur to support it and keep it in place.

Medicine

Your physician may help you manage pain before and after surgery using any / few of the following

• Acetaminophen
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications
• Gabapentinoids
• Muscle relaxants
• Opioids
• Topical pain medicines

Healing

Most shaft fractures require time to heal. Some take longer time, esp. when the patient uses tobacco products or particularly if the fracture has been broken into pieces or is an open fracture.

Pain Control

Pain after the operation or an accident is a part of the recovery procedure. Nurses and your physician may work to lower your pain, which may help you recover.

Medications are prescribed following an accident or surgery and various kinds of drugs are available to help deal with pain. These include acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, gabapentinoids, muscle relaxants, opioids, and topical pain medicines. Your physician may use a mixture of these drugs or may decrease the need for opioids, in addition to increased pain relief. Some pain medicines may have side effects which could also affect your ability. Your physician will talk about the negative effects of your pain medicines to you.

Be mindful that although opioids help alleviate pain following an accident or surgery, they are a narcotic and may be addictive. Opioid dependence has become a significant public health problem. It is crucial to use opioids only if and for as long as the doctors prescribe. One should stop taking opioids the moment your pain starts to improve. Speak with your physician if your pain hasn’t started to improve in a couple of days following therapy.

Weight-bearing

Leg movement encourages early recovery. For placing weight on your leg, it is essential to follow your physician’s directions to prevent difficulties at a later stage.

Sometimes, physicians enable patients to place as much weight as possible after the operation in the leg and it has started to heal. You might not have the ability to place weight until the fracture has begun to cure and can bear weight. Make sure you follow your physician’s directions.

You will have to use a walker or crutches for assistance when you start walking.

Physical Therapy

Exercises throughout the recovery process are significant, failing which, you will lose muscle strength in the impacted area. Therapy helps restore endurance, joint motion and muscle strength. Also, it can also help you handle pain.  

A physical therapist will start when you are at the hospital and will teach special exercises. The therapist may help understand how to use a walker or crutches.

Nursing Care of Patient with Fracture Femur

Nursing care preparation of a patient with a fracture, in grip or if in a throw, relies upon avoidance of complications. By doing an accurate nursing assessment regularly, the nursing personnel can deal with the patient’s pain and avoid complications. On crisis trauma care include evaluation, triage and keeping airway, breathing, and circulation, analysing the degree of consciousness and protecting the spine.

Listed below are nine programs for nursing care of a patient with fracture femur and nursing diagnosis for fracture

• The risk for Trauma: Falls
• Intense Pain
• The risk for Peripheral Neurovascular Dysfunction
• The risk for Impaired Gas Exchange
• Impaired Physical Mobility
• Impaired Skin Integrity
• Risk for Infection
• Deficient Awareness
• Risk for Injury

Additional Nursing Diagnoses

Physical Exercises

Improving muscle power is imperative also to reduce the dangers of falls and to boost post-operative capability for rehabilitation. Physical activity helps:

• Preventing Different fractures
• Increasing gait rate & equilibrium
• Increasing ADL Performance
• Regaining walking ability as early as you can following immobilization to prevent respiratory complications
• Enhanced brain function and much more social contact
• Fitness is beneficial for a better cardiorespiratory capacity will result in walking capacity, to add in a therapy plan. 

Exercise isn’t just crucial for rehab for continuing reinforcing of their nutrient bone density but following fracture, particularly in vulnerable populations such as osteoporotic women, delicate patients or individuals suffering from osteopenia or osteoporosis.

Side effects from loading are less demanding and leave the body function retraining their bone structure’s attributes and properties and affecting the bone mineral density. Fitness aerobics, dancing, fitness ball games involving motions and turns are examples of exercises.

Furthermore, intensity, frequency, and length are significant and needs to be customized to them.

Strengthening exercises are crucial for the improvement of the operational bones and muscles. These power exercises may produce advantages for the area which has been impacted in patients who suffered a fracture. Weight-bearing exercises will reinforce the dynamic balance and functional performance, especially exercises in standing position, since they are more challenging for postural control.

As the patient recovery is ensured by a post-operative nursing care plan for femur fracture, post-operative care is a vital element of the curing process. Post-operative care for individuals might be easy and may be short term or long term or may entail procedure for a few.

In case of long term post-operative care, a patient is much better off within the warmth or home rather than in a hospital. Aiding this kind of care is something that we provide from our home care nursing services. As a part of our services, our group of nurses and other caregivers, would come and see you and offer care. In some cases, the nurse may remain with the individual for 24*7 monitoring and attention.

Therefore, if you require nursing care in your home, look no further and trust your loved ones’ care to Care24 and we guarantee a satisfactory and quick recovery of the individual in the most effective and fastest way possible.