Reduction (orthopedic procedure)

Reduction is a medical procedure to restore the correct anatomical alignment of a fracture or dislocation. When an injury results in a fracture, or broken bone, the bone segments can sometimes become misaligned. This is referred to as a displaced fracture which requires the medical procedure called reduction. Some providers may refer to this as 'setting the bone'. When an injury results in a dislocation of a joint, or the misalignment of two connecting bones, a similar process of reduction must be performed to relocate the joint back into normal anatomical positioning. In the case of both displaced fractures and joint dislocation reduction is required for effective healing.