Management of Pediatric Femoral Neck Fracture :

The most common pediatric orthopaedic injury requiring hospitalization is a femur fracture. This study aimed to identify the epidemiology and mechanisms of injury so that these injuries might be reduced through specifically targeted safety measures. Data for this study were culled from the 2000 Kids' Inpatient Database representing over 2.5 million pediatric hospital discharges. Of the nearly 10,000 femur fractures, 1076 (11%) occurred in children younger than 2 years; 2119 (21%) in children aged 2 to 5 years; 3237 (33%) in children aged 6 to 12 years; and 3528 (35%) in adolescents aged 13 to 18 years. The most (71%) occurred in male patients. Falls and motor vehicle collisions accounted for two thirds of those injuries, with the incidence of falls greater in the younger children and motor vehicle collisions more prevalent in older children. Fifteen percent of femoral fractures in children younger than 2 years were because of child abuse. Length of hospital stay, number of diagnoses and procedures, and hospital charges were greatest in the adolescent age group, likely because of high-energy trauma with resultant polytrauma. Hospital charges were more than 222 million dollars with the average charge over 2.5 times that in adolescents compared with infants/toddlers. Pediatric orthopaedists must continue to press for increased safety for our children, particularly adolescent motor vehicle safety. Abuse should be considered when a child younger than 2 years presents with a femoral fracture.

Avascular necrosis (AVN) is one of the most serious complications of femoral neck fractures in children. Variability in the reported rates of AVN and lack of statistical evidence has minimized the prognostic power of individual studies. The purpose of our study was to review our own cases as well as those from the literature in an effort to identify the risk factors for AVN. We conducted a computerized search of medical records to identify all children with femoral neck fractures treated at our institution from 1980 to 2003. Records were reviewed to determine fracture type (Delbet type I to IV), displacement, age, treatment, and incidence of AVN. A structured search of PubMed was also performed to identify all reports published in English, on femoral neck fractures in children, from 1965 to 2003. Hand searches of major orthopedic journals and reference lists of publications identified additional cases. Of the 275 citations initially identified through our computerized search, 47 met the criteria for further evaluation. These citations were reviewed by 2 investigators, and data was abstracted from 20 reports that provided patient-level data and met our criteria for inclusion. Twenty-four patients with 25 femoral neck fractures from our institution were identified including 12 boys and 12 girls with an average age of 8 years (range 1.5 to 16). Over 300 patients who met our study criteria were also identified from the literature, and a total of 360 patients were included in the analysis. Fracture type, displacement, age, and treatment were all statistically significant independent predictors of AVN with P values