Toddler’s Fracture

Another type of injury in children is the undisplaced spiral fracture of the distal tibial shaft in children who have just begun walking, the Toddler s fracture. There is often no or minimal history of injury and children of this age poorly localise. X-rays can be normal in up to a third of patients. The radiograph can be repeated after 10 days to 2 weeks of immobilisation. Scintigraphy will demonstrate the fracture and its location usually before it is visible on an X-ray, but scintigraphy is not the accepted mechanism of investigation. 

As for femoral fractures, tibial shaft fractures are not specific for abuse, although in a non-weight-bear-ing infant without a history of significant trauma, abuse must be given serious consideration. In the ambulant infant, a steep, vertical, undisplaced spiral or oblique fracture is likely to be a toddler s fracture , an accident result from a twisting fall while the foot is fixed to the ground. 

Lewis D, Logan P (2006) Sonographic diagnosis of toddler s fracture in the emergency department. J Clin Ultrasound... 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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