Trauma Surgery

Suffering musculoskeletal traumas like fractures is excruciating and disabling. The Orthopedic Trauma Surgeons of Northern California team in Carmichael, California, excels in trauma surgery to repair broken bones. The highly skilled surgeons use advanced techniques and the latest minimally invasive methods to relieve pain and restore function. 

What is trauma surgery?

Trauma surgery repairs acute (sudden) injuries to the musculoskeletal system, including your bones and joints. You might need trauma surgery if you suffer an injury that won’t heal properly with nonsurgical treatment.

The Orthopedic Trauma Surgeons of Northern California team performs trauma surgery at Sutter Roseville Medical Center in Roseville and Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California. The team specializes in fracture repair.

Why might I need trauma surgery?

Patients requiring trauma surgery might have suffered injuries in a fall, playing sports, participating in high-risk activities, or in a car accident. Forceful overextension, where you twist the joint too far, can also break bones. Gunshot wounds often cause severe fractures.

Fractures the Orthopedic Trauma Surgeons of Northern California team operates on include:

Comminuted fractures

A comminuted fracture is where the bone breaks into more than two pieces. Sometimes the injury shatters the bones into many fragments.

Compound fractures

A compound or open fracture is one where the broken bone protrudes through the skin or the tissue damage is so severe you can see the bone.

What does trauma surgery involve?

The hospital emergency room team calls Orthopedic Trauma Surgeons of Northern California if you require trauma surgery. They assess your injury and determine the best technique to use. Examples include:

Internal fixation

Internal fixation involves using a combination of rods, plates, pins, wires, and/or screws to reattach the bone pieces in the correct alignment.

External fixation

In this procedure, your surgeon puts metal pins or screws into the bones and attaches them to a bar outside your skin. The device holds your bones in the proper position while they heal.

Bone fragment removal

If the bone pieces are too small to repair, your surgeon takes them out. If you have a distal femur fracture, they might fix a plate or rod at the ends of the broken bones, leaving the many small pieces as they are. This ensures the correct shape and length of the bone during healing. The pieces gradually fill in with new bone.

Joint replacement

If the fracture is too severe or your bone quality is too poor for repair, your surgeon might remove the fragments and implant an artificial joint.