Tibial fractures in head-injured children

Twenty-nine tibia fractures in 28 pediatric patients with head injuries were reviewed for mechanism of injury, age, time to healing, deformity, and functional ability. The most frequent cause was auto versus pedestrian accidents and the average patient age was ten years. Most had major associated injuries. Fractures of the middle third of the tibia comprised 75% of the group and healed after 20 weeks. There were few deformities in this group despite the fact that most were treated by closed methods.