Posttraumatic distal ulnar physeal arrest: a case report and review of the literature

We report the case of a 12-year-old male who sustained a Salter-Harris (SH) type IV physeal fracture of the distal ulna and a SH type II fracture of the distal radius. At 34 months later, he presented with activity-related wrist pain and ulnar variance of -17 mm. He successfully underwent ulnar distraction osteogenesis with radial closing wedge osteotomy. At 16-month follow-up, the patient denied wrist pain with activity, and imaging demonstrated ulnar variance of -3 mm. Epiphyseal fracture separations of the distal radius and ulna have the potential to cause early growth arrest and may become symptomatic as a result. High-energy mechanism, open fracture, number of reduction attempts, and age at injury can all increase the risk of premature closure. Therefore, we recommend longitudinal follow-up of patients with these injuries as earlier intervention may improve outcomes. When premature physeal closure is discovered early, treatment may include resection of the physeal bar, osteotomy with or without epiphysiodesis, and distraction osteogenesis.