Orthopaedic Trauma and Fracture Services

When you suffer a traumatic injury, there’s no time to spare. Whether you break a leg in a car accident or dislocate your shoulder playing football, you need expert care — quickly.

UPMC Orthopaedic Care has trauma specialists who act fast in an emergency. They can handle everything from torn ligaments and sprained knees to complex bone fractures.

What Is Orthopaedic Trauma?

Orthopaedic trauma is any severe injury of the bones, joints, and surrounding soft tissues caused by an external force. It includes fractures, dislocations, sprains, and strains.

Orthopaedic trauma surgeons have advanced training in treating people who suffer from sudden injuries. Some of the most common causes of orthopaedic trauma are motor vehicle crashes, falls, sports injuries, and industrial accidents.

What's are the most common forms of orthopaedic trauma?

Common forms of orthopaedic trauma include broken or crushed bones, dislocated limbs, sprains, and strains. The most frequently broken bones are:

• The bones of the wrist and forearm.
• The collarbone.
• The shinbone.
• The thighbone.

What orthopaedic trauma conditions do you treat?

The surgeons at UPMC Orthopaedic Care treat a broad range of traumatic conditions and injuries. They include:

• Acute injuries of the musculoskeletal system, including fractures, sprains, and strains.  
• Athletic injuries from twisting, falling, or colliding during sports.
• Dislocations of both lower and upper limbs.
• Fractures that didn’t heal (nonunion) or didn’t heal properly (malunion).
• Hip dislocation.
• Injuries to the brachial plexus (a network of nerves that control movement and feeling in the arm and hand).
• Injuries to the pelvis and hip socket.
• Post-traumatic conditions, including infections and damage to muscles, tendons, and nerves.  

Fractures we treat include:

• Ankle
• Cervical
• Clavicle
• Coccyx
• Distal radius
• Elbow
• Femur
• Foot
• Forearm
• Navicular
• Patella
• Pelvic
• Ribs/chest
• Spinal
• Tibia

How Do You Treat Orthopaedic Trauma Injuries and Fractures?

The experts at UPMC Orthopaedic Care offer cutting-edge treatments and procedures for traumatic injuries to the bones and surrounding tissues.

Minimally invasive surgery

Our surgeons use innovative methods and computer-navigated tools to treat broken bones and other orthopaedic injuries. Surgery is done through tiny incisions for less damage to surrounding tissues and a faster recovery.

Joint replacement

Our orthopaedic trauma team offers joint replacement surgery for acute and post-traumatic orthopaedic injuries. 

To ensure you receive complete trauma care, we also work with other UPMC specialists such as:

• General trauma surgeons.
• Internal medicine specialists.
• Rehabilitation specialists.
• Plastic surgeons.

Specialized orthopaedic trauma procedures

UPMC surgeons have treated thousands of broken bones and other orthopaedic injuries. They perform complex surgical procedures, such as:

• Arthroplasty — A surgical repair of joints.
• Limb reattachment — The surgical reattachment of a body part (finger, hand, or toe) completely cut from the body.
• Living tissue transplant and reconstruction — When bone or tissue is transplanted from one part of your body to another (an autograft). It may also get transplanted from another person’s body to your body (an allograft).
• Microvascular surgery — Reconstructs damaged blood vessels and nerves.
• Vascularized bone transplant — Involves replacing crushed bone with bone from the fibula, a long bone in the lower leg.

When Should I See an Orthopaedic Trauma Specialist?

If you have multiple injuries from a car crash or other trauma, you may be taken straight to the emergency department (ED). When you get there, if you have a fracture where the bone is visible, severe bleeding, or loss of consciousness, ED doctors will treat you immediately. 

If your injuries involve bones or connective tissue, you'll see an orthopaedic trauma specialist as soon as possible. They may come straight to the emergency department.

Other reasons to see an orthopaedic trauma specialist include:

• You have an acute (sudden) injury that’s not responding to at-home treatments like icing or over-the-counter pain medicine.
• You have pain (constant or occasional) that’s lasted more than three months.
• You have trouble standing or moving around.
• Your range of motion is limited.
• Your symptoms are affecting your daily life.