Tibial fractures in children: follow-up study.

One hundred seventeen children with tibial shaft fractures were treated by above knee cast with or without traction depending on stability. All fractures united in an average period of 37 days. Reevaluation after 3-10 years showed that initial shortening, fracture type, fracture location, and age of the patient affected growth acceleration, whereas the initial angular magnitude, direction, and planes, as well as the type of the fracture, the age of the patient, and length of follow-up period, affected correction of angulation. We concluded that: shortening can be compensated by growth acceleration; varus deformities can undergo spontaneous correlation whereas valgus deformity and posterior angulation partially persist and rotational deformities persist.