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Femur fractures in infants and young children

Desmond Brown1, Elliott Fisher

  • 1Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH, USA. tdesmond.brown@bmc.org

American Journal of Public Health
|April 1, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Femur fractures are most common in infants and two-year-olds, peaking in the third month of life. The reasons for this pattern in pediatric femur fractures remain unclear.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric orthopedics
  • Trauma research
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Femur fractures in children are a significant concern.
  • Understanding age-specific incidence is crucial for prevention and treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the age-specific incidence rates of femur fractures in children under six years old.
  • To identify peak incidence periods for pediatric femur fractures.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of an administrative database.
  • Calculation of femur fracture rates by year of age (under 6) and by month of age.
  • Stratification of data for infants and toddlers.

Main Results:

  • The highest rates of femur fracture occurred in children younger than one year and in two-year-olds.
  • The greatest number of fractures were observed during the third month of life.
  • A subsequent decline in fracture rates was noted after the first year.

Conclusions:

  • Pediatric femur fractures exhibit a distinct age-related pattern, with a peak in early life.
  • The underlying causes for the incidence peak in the first year and subsequent decline require further investigation.
  • Further research is needed to elucidate the etiology of these fractures.

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