Surgical interventions for diaphyseal fractures of the radius and ulna in children

Diaphyseal forearm fractures in children are a common injury usually resulting from a fall. The treatment options include non-surgical intervention (manipulation and application of cast) and surgical options such as internal fixation with intramedullary nails or with plate and screws.

To assess the effects (benefits and harms) of a) surgical versus non-surgical interventions, and b) different surgical interventions for the fixation of diaphyseal fractures of the forearm bones in children.

We searched the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised Register (March 2011), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library, 2011 Issue 1), MEDLINE (1948 to February week 4 2011), EMBASE (1980 to 2011 week 09), trial registers and reference lists of articles.

Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials that compared surgical with non-surgical intervention, or different types of surgical intervention for the fixation of diaphyseal forearm fractures in children.

All review authors independently examined the search results to identify trials for inclusion.

After screening of 163 citations, we identified 15 potentially eligible studies of which 14 were excluded and one is an ongoing trial. There were thus no studies suitable for inclusion in this review.

There is a lack of evidence from randomised controlled trials to inform on when surgery is required and what type of surgery is best for treating children with fractures of the shafts of the radius, ulna or both bones.