[Cortical fracture of the sternum in a child: an infrequent case]

We report the case of a six-year-old girl who suffer an isolated sternal fracture due to hyperflexion of the thorax (while she was playing on a jumping-bed). On clinical examination, only slight tenderness and pain with compression of sternum was found. Chest X-ray demonstrated a fracture of the body of the sternum without other findings. The patient was admitted, observed during 12 hours with ECG monitoring and discharged because no cardiac or pulmonary pathology appeared. We present this case because fracture of the sternum in a child is rare, especially if road-traffic accident with seat belt injury is not implicated as a cause.