Fracture of the neck of the radius in children: clinic, diagnosis, methods of treatment

Radial neck fractures are most common in children aged 8 to 11 years, accounting for 5% to 10% of all fractures of the bones that make up the elbow joint and up to 1% of all fractures in the pediatric population. Most often, the injury occurs as a result of a fall on an outstretched arm in the position of extension in the elbow joint. indirect injury from the fall with emphasis on the arm straightened at the elbow joint with the forearm deflected outward, and less often due to the direct effect of a damaging effect. The most typical damage in the area of the proximal radius in children is transverse fractures of the neck, in which the plane of the fracture passes through its metaphysis. The aim is to compare the experience of treating fractures of the radial neck, to analyze the possibilities of postoperative complications based on the literature and our own observations. In children with radial neck fractures, depending on the type of displacement of bone fragments and their angulation, there are different options for repositioning, which, accordingly, provide different treatment efficiency. Treatment of radial neck fractures in the pediatric population, necessarily taking into account the type of fragment displacement, should involve starting with low-traumatic and minimally invasive closed methods, and only in cases of their failure and/or impossibility (inappropriateness) it is possible to determine the choice of indications for open surgical intervention. The results which we obtained from the application of the open reposition technique for radial neck fractures according to the Metaizo method with fixation of fragments with elastic intramedullary rods in childhood clinically, radiologically and functionally coincide with the existing modern data of literary sources. Based on this, we believe that this technique is a good option for surgical treatment of pathology, simple and reliable, with minimal possibilities of postoperative complications, even with the most significant values of angulation of bone fragments. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The research protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the institution mentioned in the work. The informed consent of the patients was obtained for the research. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.