Radius Shaft Fractures-What Alignment is Acceptable at What Age? Plates or Flexible Nails?

Abstract

The transition from pediatric to adolescent fractures can lead to uncertainty on what level of surgical correction is warranted as remodeling is limited in these older patients. Adolescent diaphyseal radial shaft fractures present several unique challenges; the radial bow must be restored to preserve forearm rotation and there are several clinical scenarios where plating, even in the skeletally immature child, is strongly recommended and will have more reliable results over flexible intramedullary nails. In addition, judging how much angulation, rotation, and displacement will remodel in the older child can be a challenging decision, even for experienced pediatric orthopaedists. This overview discusses parameters for acceptable alignment in these fractures, when surgical fixation should be considered, and circumstances where plating should be considered over flexible nails.