External fixation of pediatric femoral fractures.
Fifteen pediatric femoral fractures in 14 patients were treated with external fixation using the EBI Orthofix unilateral external fixator. The average patient age was 8.5 years (range, 3-13 years). There were 7 children with multiple injuries and 7 with isolated fractures. The average duration in the fixator was 63 days; average followup was 34 months. All 15 fractures healed without additional operative intervention. Average angulation at the fracture site was 4.4 degrees in the anteroposterior plane (range, 0 degrees-10 degrees) and 4.6 degrees in the lateral plane (range, 0 degrees-11 degrees). There were 5 pin tract infections, all of which resolved with systemic antibiotics. There was 1 case of refracture in a boy with muscular dystrophy. Ten patients had clinically equal leg lengths, 3 patients had < 1 cm of inequality, and 1 patient had a 1.5 cm discrepancy. External fixation is a well-proven technique for managing pediatric femoral fractures in the child with multiple injuries. It is also an effective means of treating isolated femoral fractures in the pediatric population.[1]References
- External fixation of pediatric femoral fractures. Davis, T.J., Topping, R.E., Blanco, J.S. Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. (1995) [Pubmed]
Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenesOpen Access LicencePrivacy PolicyTerms of Useapsburg
