Expert Trauma and Fracture Care in Greater Philadelphia

Complex Fracture Treatment in Philadelphia

By definition, complex fractures are not routine cases, and these injuries — with extensive damage to multiple bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, and even veins and nerves — require more specialized care and rehabilitation. Often called “high-energy” fractures, they usually occur during major trauma, such as a car accident, serious fall, or other forceful event.

Unlike more straightforward fractures, complex fractures may include comminuted fractures (where the bone shatters into several pieces), open fractures (where the bone pierces through the skin), or those that involve joint surfaces, leading to complications in mobility and healing. Because of their nature, these injuries require more advanced imaging, specialized surgical intervention, and a tailored rehabilitation program for optimal recovery. You can get all this and more by scheduling an appointment with our fracture and trauma care specialists in Greater Philadelphia.

We are trained in the latest surgical techniques and post-operative care protocols and can help with everything from immediate stabilization to ongoing physical therapy.

Know Your Risk

While a complex fracture can happen to anyone and anywhere in the body, they are most often seen in athletes and older people. Specifically, women in their sixties are five times more likely to suffer a complex fracture in their wrists than men, but both genders risk fracturing the spine, hip, leg, ankle, or pelvis in a fall. Regardless of where your fracture occurs, you can rely on our Philadelphia team to provide reliable fracture treatment options.

Every Case Is Unique — We Tailor Complex Fracture Treatment to You

From the moment you arrive, our team of orthopaedic trauma specialists works to understand the full scope of your injury and how it impacts your life. Whether you need a quick return to work, are focused on regaining athletic performance, or simply want to move pain-free again, your goals become our goals. You can count on us to design a treatment plan that manages your pain and heals the injury as quickly as possible.

Because a complex fracture usually involves multiple bone fragments, torn ligaments, and tendons, we will likely recommend orthopedic trauma surgery to secure everything with screws and pins. We may also need to perform reconstruction. Once your surgery is complete, we’ll send you home with a rehabilitation plan that may include casts, bracing, gentle stretches, or physical therapy to help the muscles gain flexibility and build up strength.

Non-Surgical Treatment for Bone Fractures

Not all bone fractures require surgery. In many cases, non-surgical treatment options can effectively promote healing and restore function, especially when the broken bone remains well-aligned or only requires minimal realignment.

Common non-surgical fracture treatments include:

• Casting or Splinting: Immobilization helps keep the fractured bone in the proper position while it heals naturally. This is often used for simple fractures of the arm, leg, wrist, or ankle.
• Bracing: A brace may be used to limit motion while still allowing some flexibility, depending on the fracture site and the patient’s lifestyle needs.
• Traction: In some cases, traction is used to gently stretch muscles and tendons to align broken bones correctly before further treatment.
• Physical Therapy: Once healing begins, our rehabilitation team helps patients regain strength, mobility, and range of motion through personalized exercises and techniques.

At Premier Orthopaedics, our goal is to support your recovery with conservative, effective treatments that minimize downtime and lead to the best long-term outcome.

Surgical Options for Fractures & Orthopedic Trauma

When a fracture is too complex or unstable to heal on its own, surgical intervention becomes necessary to realign and stabilize the bone. This is especially true for displaced, open, comminuted, or complex fractures, as well as those that affect joints or major weight-bearing bones. Our orthopedic trauma surgeons are highly trained in the latest techniques to repair bone and soft tissue injuries with precision.

We may recommend one of the following surgical procedures to set your broken bone:

• Internal Fixation: This approach to orthopedic surgery involves repositioning the broken bones and securing them with metal hardware such as screws, plates, or rods to maintain alignment during healing.
• External Fixation: In cases where the surrounding soft tissue is too damaged for internal hardware, external fixation devices may be used to stabilize the fracture from outside the body.
• Bone Grafting: When bone loss occurs, grafting procedures can fill gaps or reinforce weakened structures using bone from the patient or a donor.
• Arthroplasty (Joint Replacement): For fractures involving joints, special techniques may be used to reconstruct the joint and preserve long-term mobility and function.

Whether surgical or non-surgical, fracture treatment options are typically followed by a carefully managed rehabilitation plan customized to your recovery goals and the demands of your lifestyle.