Abstract
Introduction: Trauma is a major cause of childhood morbidity, and pattern of fractures in children is related to socioeconomic and environment factors. We conducted this study to look at fracture pattern of children in a developing country. Material and Method: Children aged 12 and below who attended paediatric orthopaedic out-patient clinic between July 2009 and March 2010 were enrolled for the study. Information was collected by interview that was based on a questionnaire. Results: There were 260 children in the study, and 72.3% were boys. The most common bone fractured was the radius and/or ulnar (41.9%), followed by the humerus (27.7%) and tibia/fibula (7.7). Most common place for fracture to happen was at home (35.5%), followed by in the parks (17.3%) and at school (15.7%). Road traffic accident only contributed 9.2% of all the fractures. Of the 25 fractures due to road traffic accidents, 16 involved the use of vehicles. About one third (36.73%) of the injuries were not witnessed. One quarter (24.9%) were witnessed by parents and one fifth (17.1%) witnessed by siblings. Conclusion: Upper limb are more commonly fractures than lower limbs. Measures to reduce the problem should start at home by creating higher awareness on injury prevention among the parents.
Highlights
Trauma is a major cause of childhood morbidity, and pattern of fractures in children is related to socioeconomic and environment factors
A total of 260 children presented with fracture during the study period and all the parents or caretakers agreed to participate in the study
The most common bones treated for fracture were the radius and/or ulnar (41.9%), followed by the humerus (27.7%) and tibia/fibula (7.7%) (Table I).The fractures involved the right limb in 132 children (50.8%) and the left limb in 113 children (43.5%)
Summary
Trauma is a major cause of childhood morbidity, and pattern of fractures in children is related to socioeconomic and environment factors. We conducted this study to look at fracture pattern of children in a developing country. Measures to reduce the problem should start at home by creating higher awareness on injury prevention among the parents. Trauma is a major cause for childhood morbidity and admission to hospitals .1,2. Most of the information on this subject appearing in the literature is based on studies conducted on a Western population . 2,4,5 In developing countries, children generally contributed a higher proportion of the total population. One would expect more admissions due to medical conditions like infection and gastroenteritis, trauma related problems are still common due lack of safety awareness and poorly equipped public recreational or sports facilities 6. Iqbal published one of the few studies conducted in Malaysia in 1974, but there has not been a recent update on this subject 7
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