Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Burst fracture

    A burst fracture is similar to a compression fracture but is typically more severe and involves displacement of the bony fragments.  

  • Boxer’s fracture

    A fracture of the distal end of the fourth or fifth metacarpal with posterior displacement of the proximal structures.  

  • Bowing fracture

    A bending or curving fracture of a bone (usually a forearm bone) as the result of a traumatic load that compresses the bone along its long axis.  

  • Blow up fracture

    A fracture of the bony orbit above the eye. It may result in entrapment of the superior rectus muscle with a consequent inability to gaze downward.  

  • Bimalleolar fracture

    A fracture of the medical and lateral malleoli of the ankle joint.  

  • Fractional urine

    A collection of urine taken during a few specified hours or from a specified quantity rather than from the entire amount voided during a day.  

  • Fractional shortening

    The reduction of the length of the end-diastolic diameter that occurs by the end of systole. Like the ejection fraction, this is a measure of the heart’s muscular contractility. If the diameter fails to shorten by at least 28%, the efficiency of the heart in ejecting blood is impaired.  

  • Fractional excretion of sodium

    The urinary sodium concentration multiplied by the plasma creatinine concentration multiplied by 100, all divided by the product of the plasma sodium concentration and the urinary creatinine concentration.  

  • Volume fraction

    The ratio of the volume of a constituent to the volume of the whole. In practice, it may be difficult to determine the volume fraction because differences in the molecular sizes of the constituents may produce a total volume that differs from the sum of the individual volumes of the mixture. When materials of similar…

  • Substance fraction

    The ratio of the amount (number of moles or entities) of a constituent of a mixture to the total of constituents of the system.