The Prevalence of Pediatric Lower Limb Fractures Following Motor Vehicle Accidents at King Abdullah Specialist Children's Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

BackgroundPediatric injuries are a very common and serious issue that may result in permanent harm. Regardless of the etiology of the injury, children represent up to 25% of all cases visiting the emergency room. Children suffer nearly twice as many fractures as adults, with males being more vulnerable to this type of injury.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted among 2777 patients, and a total of 203 patients who fit the inclusion criteria were included. Data were collected using the electronic system at King Abdullah Specialist Children's Hospital (KASCH). Participants were selected by a non-probability purposive sampling method and data analysis was carried out using the SPSS program.ResultsThe prevalence of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) related to lower limb fractures was estimated to be 7.3%. The patients had an average mean age of 8.6±4 years, with 10-14 years being the most common age group affected (48.3%) with male predominance (72.4%). Furthermore, femoral fractures were the most commonly identified type (31.5%), and a pedestrian was the most common mechanism of multiple lower limb fractures. Additionally, the highest reported mechanism of injury of lower limb fractures was MVAs. Moreover, the current study shows that most of those patients were treated surgically (55.1%).ConclusionConclusively, our cohort estimated that the prevalence is 7.3% of MVAs-related lower limb fractures among all children presented to the KASCH Emergency Department. Our study showed that children who were 10-14 years of age were the most affected. There is a male over female predominance. A femur was the most common bone to be affected. Lastly, further safety awareness programs and campaigns are important to be initiated by governmental authorities.