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Supracondylar femur fracture complicating epileptic insult: a specific and under diagnosed complication?
Petra Vanheer1, Johanna van Rhijn, Marc Boel
1Rehabilitation and Epilepsy Centre for Children and Youth, Pulderbos, Belgium.
Purpose:
In epileptic patients fractures are six times more frequent than in the general population. Known predisposing factors are anticonvulsant drugs, malnutrition, lack of physical activity and sunlight exposure.
Methods:
In this study we describe two patients, one with a bilateral supracondylar fracture and one with a unilateral supracondylar fracture after an epileptic seizure. The literature concerning femur fracture following an epileptic insult is reviewed.
Results:
A review of the literature revealed several cases of femur fractures associated with epilepsy, however no cases were found involving a supracondylar femur.
Conclusions:
Our hypothesis is that a tonic seizure with simultaneous contraction of both agonists and antagonists can cause this type of fracture in predisposing patients.
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