Longitudinal growth after nonphyseal forearm fractures.

The overgrowth phenomenon after fracture has been considered rare in the upper extremity. This study analyzes 119 patients with forearm fractures treated conservatively. All patients had scanograms of both forearms 5 years later. A difference in length more than 2 mm was considered a discrepancy. Positive values of discrepancy were called overgrowth. A radial length discrepancy was observed in 80 patients (67.2%) and overgrowth in 38 (26.8%); ulnar values were 65 (54.6%) and 29 (24.3%), respectively. Radial overgrowth and ulnar overgrowth were related to the location of the radial fracture and handedness but not to the type of fracture, age or sex of the patient, or the presence or absence of an associated ulnar fracture. Discrepancy did not show a significant relationship to any of these variables. Surprisingly, fractures in the proximal and middle thirds often presented with overgrowth, whereas those closer to the distal physis did not.