Frontal Plane Angular Knee Deformities in School Children in Kribi, South Region of Cameroon

Abstract

Bone problems such as angular deformities of the knee are common in children in Africa. The aim of this survey was to study epidemiologic aspects of frontal plane angular knee deformities in school children in Kribi. A total of 860 school children in Kribi aged 3 to 18 years were surveyed in a cross-sectional descriptive study from December 2019 to March 2020. Each child was examined. Intercodylar distances, intermalleolar distances and the tibiofemoral angles were assessed. The type of knee deformity in the frontal plane was determined from the children`s tibiofemoral angles and compared with reference values of normal children in the same age ranges. One hundred and fourty two (142, 16.5%) children surveyed presented with frontal plane knee deformities, with genu varum representing 68.0% (96 cases) of the deformities. The prevalence of these deformities in school children in Kribi varied significantly with age. We did not find any significant difference in the variation of these deformities with gender or ethnic groups. We identified some frontal plane angular knee deformities, including bilateral deformities being predominant 90.71% (127 cases). The mean body mass index was higher than those of normal children. 15.5% (22) of them presented with associated deformity in the sagital plane, dominated by bilateral genu recurvatum and 33.8% (48) of them presented with associated rotational knee deformities, dominated by bilateral medial rotation. Frontal plane knee angular deformities are common amongst school children in Kribi. Their prevalence is 16.51% (142 cases). This prevalence varies with ages. Sagittal plane and rotational plane deformities are equally present in children presenting with these deformities. Keywords: Bone, Children, Deformities, Cameroon.