Forearm fractures in children from Zadar region

Abstract

Forearm fractures are the most common fractures in children. The main mechanism of injury is falling onto an outstretched hand, when the axis of the distal forearm is axially overloaded. The aim of this study was to evaluate the circumstances in which forearm fractures occurred in Zadar region. We performed retrospective analysis of 1603 children treated for forearm fractures between 2014 and 2018 in Zadar General Hospital. Overall, 1476 children were treated as outpatients, including 940 (63.7%) boys and 536 (36.3%) girls, whereas 127 children were hospitalized (87 boys and 40 girls). The mean patient age was 9.6 (boys 9.7 and girls 9.5) years. According to age distribution, there were 173 (10.8%) patients in the 0-4-year group, 633 (39.5%) in the 5-9-year group, 656 (40.9%) in the 10-14-year group and 141 (8.8%) in the 15-18-year group. Eighteen (1.1%) children were injured in traffic, 49 (3.1%) at home, 65 (4.1%) at school, and 1369 (86.5%) in sports, playgrounds and other leisure facilities. Fractures were mostly caused by falls (n=468, 29.2%), sports injuries (n=956, 59.6%) and other mechanisms (n=92, 5.7%). Regarding injuries sustained during sports activities, 411 (25.6%) children were injured while playing football, 143 (8.9%) during handball and 115 (7.2%) while playing basketball. In Zadar region, most forearm fractures in children occurred during sports and play, and only sporadically at home, school and in traffic. Key words: FRACTURES, BONE; FOREARM; CHILD; CROATIA; GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS; SPORTS; FOOTBALL