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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
A broken leg (leg fracture) is a break or crack in one of the bones in your leg. A broken leg may be as simple as a hairline stress fracture, which is common in runners. Or it may be a severe, shattering break resulting from a serious car accident.
If you or your child has any signs or symptoms of a broken leg, seek immediate medical attention, especially if the break follows a fall or motor vehicle accident. Prompt diagnosis and treatment of a broken leg is critical to complete healing.
The right treatment for you or your child depends on the exact site and severity of the injury. A severely broken leg may require surgery to implant devices into the broken bone to maintain proper alignment during healing. Other injuries may be treated with a cast or splint until they're healed.
- Fracture. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 31st ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders; 2007. http://www.dorlands.com/def.jsp?id=100042444. Accessed April 17, 2009.
- Shinbone fractures. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://www.orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00161. Accessed April 17, 2009.
- Lower leg. Marx JA, et al. In: Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/132163627-9/830723266/1365/146.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-02845-4..50059-7--cesec116_2508. Accessed April 17, 2009.
- Thighbone (femur) fractures. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://www.orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00364. Accessed April 20, 2009.
- Fields KB. Overview of tibial fractures. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed April 20, 2009.
- Fields KB. Stress fractures of the tibia and fibula. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed April 20, 2009.
- Fractures of the lower extremity: Shaft of the femur. In: Canale ST, et al. Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/132633798-5/831634018/1584/388.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-03329-9..50054-4--cesec111_2919. Accessed April 20, 2009.
