Delayed union
Also called: slow healing fracture
What it means
Delayed union is when a fracture takes longer than usual to heal, though it's still making progress toward healing.
Knowing about delayed union helps you understand why your doctor may order extra x-rays or adjust your activity after a fracture, especially as healing often slows with age or certain health conditions.
Delayed union means a broken bone is taking longer than the usual expected time to heal, but it hasn't stopped healing completely like a nonunion. Doctors usually watch progress with x-rays over time, checking for signs of callus (new bone) forming at the fracture site. If healing seems slower than typical for that bone and age, your doctor may call it delayed union.
A slow-healing fracture can still be progressing, which is why doctors may watch it closely with extra x-rays.
Where this leads
WordYou just read that delayed healing still means progress. Learn what happens when a bone stops healing altogether instead.
Related words
A nonunion is a broken bone that has stopped healing and won't knit back together on its own, even months after the…
A malunion is a broken bone that healed, but in a crooked, shortened, or misaligned position instead of its normal…
Fracture healing is the body's natural, staged process of repairing a broken bone, moving from initial bleeding and…
A bone callus is the new tissue, soft at first and then hardened, that forms around a fracture to join the broken…
Bone union means a broken bone has fully healed and the two ends have knit back together with new bone, restoring…
A stress fracture is a small crack in a bone caused by repeated stress over time, rather than a single hard blow.
Education only, not medical advice. Decisions about tests, medications and treatment belong with your own doctor. OsteoStrong does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
