Salter-Harris II forearm fracture reduction and fixation using a buttress plate.
Distal radius fractures are common injuries in children. Those that affect the growth plate (physis) need to be managed carefully as inadequate management may lead to long-term deformity and a reduction in function. However, different management strategies all have drawbacks and controversy exists over how best to manage these cases. This is the case of a 13-year-old girl who presented with a Salter Harris II fracture, which was managed using a novel approach of utilising a T plate in a buttress mode to stabilise the fracture after anatomical reduction. This provided effective fracture fixation and should allow good bone healing without causing any iatrogenic growth plate damage and without fixing a plate across the physis, which may need removal in the future.
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Jonathan
J
Barnes
Mark
M
Webb
Paul
P
v Fearon
D000293:Adolescent; D001860:Bone Plates; D005260:Female; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D011859:Radiography; D011885:Radius Fractures / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D014458:Ulna Fractures / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*