Simultaneous ipsilateral elbow and forearm fractures in children: a retrospective review

The aim is to evaluate the incidence of simultaneous ipsilateral forearm fractures in pediatric patients who present with elbow fractures and to attempt to identify patients who might be at greater risk of this type of injury. All pediatric patients with elbow radiographs during a 3-month period were retrospectively reviewed. One hundred sixty patients were identified. Sixty-one of the 160 were diagnosed with elbow fractures. Of these, 7 had a simultaneous ipsilateral forearm fracture (12.3%). Of the 7 patients with simultaneous fractures, all had supracondylar fractures; 4 were displaced elbow fractures and 3 were nondisplaced. Although our initial experience is limited, there appears to be a fairly high incidence of ipsilateral forearm fractures in pediatric patients with elbow fractures. All of these cases involved a supracondylar fracture, and over 50% showed displaced fractures. We conclude that in preadolescent patients with elbow fractures, simultaneous forearm fracture should be considered, and clinical and or radiographic evaluation of the forearm may be warranted.