What is a pathological fracture?

What is a pathological fracture?

A pathologic fracture is a broken bone that’s caused by a disease, rather than an injury. Some conditions weaken your bones, which makes them more likely to break. Everyday things, such as coughing, stepping out of a car, or bending over can fracture a bone that’s been weakened by an illness.

How can you tell the difference between a pathological fracture?

Whereas stress fractures occur in normal or metabolically weakened bones, pathologic fractures occur at the site of a bone tumor. Unfortunately, stress fractures may share imaging features with pathologic fractures on plain radiography, and therefore other modalities are commonly utilized to distinguish these entities.

What is the most common pathological fracture?

The femoral neck and head are the most common locations for pathologic fracture because of the propensity for metastases to involve proximal bones and because of the stress of weight placed on this part of the femur.

Is a stress fracture traumatic or pathological?

The following terms are synonymous with pathological fracture: insufficiency fracture, spontaneous fracture, nontraumatic fracture, and nontraumatic compression fracture. 733.98, Stress fracture of pelvis. Compression fractures may be considered traumatic or pathologic.

What diseases cause pathological fractures?

Only a small number of conditions are commonly responsible for pathological fractures, including osteoporosis, osteomalacia, Paget’s disease, Osteitis, osteogenesis imperfecta, benign bone tumours and cysts, secondary malignant bone tumours and primary malignant bone tumours.

Why do pathological fractures occur?

Pathologic fractures occur through areas of weakened bone attributed to either primary malignant lesions, benign lesions, metastasis, or underlying metabolic abnormalities, with the common factor being altered skeletal biomechanics secondary to pathologic bone.

What does a pathological fracture look like?

Pathological fractures present as a chalkstick fracture in long bones, and appear as a transverse fractures nearly 90 degrees to the long axis of the bone. In a pathological compression fracture of a spinal vertebra fractures will commonly appear to collapse the entire body of vertebra.

What are the symptoms of the fracture?

What are the symptoms of a fracture?

• Sudden pain.
• Trouble using or moving the injured area or nearby joints.
• Unable to bear weight.
• Swelling.
• Obvious deformity.
• Warmth, bruising, or redness.

What can cause pathological fractures?

What is the difference between a traumatic fracture and a pathological fracture?

A traumatic fracture is caused by some type of accident, fall, or other kind of force. For example, a traumatic fracture can occur during a motor vehicle accident or when a person is struck with a heavy object. A pathologic fracture is a broken bone caused by disease, such as osteoporosis or cancer.

Can a broken vertebra be a pathologic fracture?

APCs Insider, May 4, 2012. However, an individual who leaned over to retrieve a glass and broke a vertebra likely suffered a pathologic fracture. Leaning over generally does not produce enough force to break a healthy bone. If a patient suffers a fall or trauma that results in a fracture, don’t automatically assume the fracture is traumatic.

Can a bone weakening condition be a pathologic fracture?

However, the fact that the patient has a bone-weakening condition does not mean the fracture is pathologic. Only the physician can determine whether the fracture is considered traumatic or pathologic, and physician documentation must be obtained to clarify the diagnosis.

When does a traumatic fracture occur in ICD-10?

For example, a traumatic fracture can occur during a motor vehicle accident or when a person is struck with a heavy object. A pathologic fracture is a broken bone caused by disease. In ICD-9-CM, coders must choose from only eight pathologic fracture codes.