Pattern of accidental femur fractures in Children and the predictors of child abuse in an urban community in Nigeria

The aim of the study is to describe and analyze the pattern of accidental femur fractures in children and to predict the occurrences of child abuse in an urban community in Nigeria.A retrospective study was conducted using the... [ view full abstract ]

The aim of the study is to describe and analyze the pattern of accidental femur fractures in children and to predict the occurrences of child abuse in an urban community in Nigeria.

A retrospective study was conducted using the Accident and Emergency records of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria over a period of ten years (January 2006 – December 2015. 87 cases were retrieved. Selected cases were children between the ages of 0 and 15 that sustained at least a femur fracture. Demographic data, aetiologies of fractures, and X-Ray features of the different cases were collated and analyzed. Results: Of the 87 cases aged between 0 – 15 years, 52 were males while 32 were females and 41.4% of the cases were between the ages of 2 -5 years. Of the assessed etiologies for femur fractures, 32.3% of the cases occurred following fall from heights and this was followed by pedestrian road traffic accident (17.2%). The morbidities recorded were fever, wound sepsis and anaemia. Femur shaft was the commonest region of fracture and the patterns of fracture noted were majorly transverse fracture (37.9%), oblique fracture (27.6%), and spiral fracture (18.4%). 5.7% of the cases had fractures in other parts of the body. Of all the fracture patterns, spiral fracture pattern is the only one that has a significant relationship with a morbidity – wound sepsis. Also, spiral fractures tend to be seen more commonly as isolated fractures (87.5% ) although this observed relationship is not statistically significant.