Some people may think that a fracture is less severe than a broken bone.  However, in reality, they are the same thing.  A fracture is a broken bone and it requires immediate medical intervention.  There are different types of fractures that can help describe their severity.  Stable fractures refer to breaks that do not change the alignment of the bone by any significant amount, while a compound fracture refers to one where the bone is severely misaligned, sometimes to the point of breaking the skin.  Transverse fractures happen when there is a fracture line along the horizontal plan of the bone, oblique fractures are angled pattern breaks, and comminuted fractures refer to severe breaks where the bone is broken into three or more distinct pieces.