Kathleen H Emery1, Shannon N Zingula2, Christopher G Anton3, Shelia R Salisbury4, Junichi Tamai5. 1. Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA. kathleen.emery@cchmc.org. 2. Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. 3. Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA. 4. Biostatistics & Epidemiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA. 5. Department of Pediatric Orthopedics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The three most common elbow fractures classically reported in pediatric orthopedic literature are supracondylar (50-70%), lateral condylar (17-34%), and medial epicondylar fractures (10%), with fractures of the proximal radius (including but not limited to fractures of the radial neck) being relatively uncommon (5-10%). Our experience at a large children's hospital suggests a different distribution. OBJECTIVE: Our goals were (1) to ascertain the frequency of different elbow fracture types in a large pediatric population, and (2) to determine which fracture types were occult on initial radiographs but detected on follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Review of medical records identified 462 children, median age 6 years and interquartile range for age of 4-8 years (range 0.8-18 years), who were diagnosed with elbow fractures at our institution over a 10-month period. Initial and follow-up radiographs were reviewed in blinded fashion independently by two experienced pediatric musculoskeletal radiologists to identify fracture types on initial and follow-up radiographs. RESULTS: The most common fractures included supracondylar (n = 258, 56%), radial neck (n = 80, 17%), and lateral condylar (n = 69, 15%). Additional fractures were seen on follow-up exams in 32 children. Of these, 25 had a different fracture type than was identified on initial radiographs. The most common follow-up fractures were olecranon (n = 23, 72%), coronoid process (n = 4, 13%) and supracondylar (n = 3, 9%). Olecranon fractures were significantly more common on follow-up radiographs than they were on initial radiographs (n = 33, 7%; P < .0001). Twenty-six children had more than one fracture type on the initial radiograph. The most common fracture combinations were radial neck with olecranon (n = 9) and supracondylar with lateral condylar (n = 9). CONCLUSION: Supracondylar fractures are the most frequent elbow fracture seen initially, followed by radial neck, lateral condylar, and olecranon fractures in a distribution different from what has been historically described. The relatively high frequency of olecranon fractures detected on follow-up speaks to their potentially occult nature. Careful attention to these areas is warranted in children with initially normal radiographs.
BACKGROUND: The three most common elbow fractures classically reported in pediatric orthopedic literature are supracondylar (50-70%), lateral condylar (17-34%), and medial epicondylar fractures (10%), with fractures of the proximal radius (including but not limited to fractures of the radial neck) being relatively uncommon (5-10%). Our experience at a large children's hospital suggests a different distribution. OBJECTIVE: Our goals were (1) to ascertain the frequency of different elbow fracture types in a large pediatric population, and (2) to determine which fracture types were occult on initial radiographs but detected on follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Review of medical records identified 462 children, median age 6 years and interquartile range for age of 4-8 years (range 0.8-18 years), who were diagnosed with elbow fractures at our institution over a 10-month period. Initial and follow-up radiographs were reviewed in blinded fashion independently by two experienced pediatric musculoskeletal radiologists to identify fracture types on initial and follow-up radiographs. RESULTS: The most common fractures included supracondylar (n = 258, 56%), radial neck (n = 80, 17%), and lateral condylar (n = 69, 15%). Additional fractures were seen on follow-up exams in 32 children. Of these, 25 had a different fracture type than was identified on initial radiographs. The most common follow-up fractures were olecranon (n = 23, 72%), coronoid process (n = 4, 13%) and supracondylar (n = 3, 9%). Olecranon fractures were significantly more common on follow-up radiographs than they were on initial radiographs (n = 33, 7%; P < .0001). Twenty-six children had more than one fracture type on the initial radiograph. The most common fracture combinations were radial neck with olecranon (n = 9) and supracondylar with lateral condylar (n = 9). CONCLUSION: Supracondylar fractures are the most frequent elbow fracture seen initially, followed by radial neck, lateral condylar, and olecranon fractures in a distribution different from what has been historically described. The relatively high frequency of olecranon fractures detected on follow-up speaks to their potentially occult nature. Careful attention to these areas is warranted in children with initially normal radiographs.
Authors: Andrew J Degnan; Victor M Ho-Fung; Jie C Nguyen; Christian A Barrera; J Todd R Lawrence; Summer L Kaplan Journal: Pediatr Radiol Date: 2019-06-08
Authors: Matthew A Zapala; Kristin Livingston; Danial Bokhari; Andrew S Phelps; Jesse L Courtier; Collin Ma; Youngho Seo; John D MacKenzie Journal: Pediatr Radiol Date: 2019-11-19
Authors: Radek Štichhauer; Jindřich Preis; Ladislav Plánka; Jakub Turek; Jiří Urban; Zbyněk Horák; Jaroslav Zeman; Martin Konečný; Ivo Kopáček; Filip Hanák; Jiří Vojta; Veronika Chrenková Journal: Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg Date: 2021-09-28 Impact factor: 2.374