Monday, September 26, 2005

Common Fracture

I didn't know this:
The collarbone is broken more often than any other bone in the body. About 64 out of every 100,000 people in the United States break their collarbones every year. In most collarbone fractures, the ends of the fractured bone do not move apart widely, and the area of tissue damage involves only the collarbone. In rare cases, a sharp portion of the fractured bone either will pierce the surface skin (an open fracture), or cut into one of the large nerves or blood vessels that travel through the shoulder. In severe impact injuries, it is also possible for a portion of the fractured collarbone to penetrate the upper part the lung, causing serious breathing problems.