Risk Factors and Complications Associated with Elbow Fractures in Children

Background and Aim: Children are at increased risk of elbow injuries, where fractures enrolled 14% of all fractures. Elbow injuries turn out to produce a rich pathology to the pediatric emergency unit.

Methods: Our study recorded clinical and surgical data of 94 pediatric fracture patients in hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, between January 2024 and January 2025. Patient data were divided into two groups according to the type of surgery. The first group represented 47 pediatric patients who underwent open reduction. The second group represented 47 pediatric patients who underwent closed reduction and percutaneous pinning. For post-procedure outcomes, we recorded patient parameters, including complications, risk factors, functional recovery, and quality of life assessment.

Results: A comprehensive review of the medical records of 94 children was conducted in this study. The study demonstrated that 68.09% of the male patients and 31.91% of the female patients exhibited obesity, and supracondylar fractures had 45.74% of the total patients. In regard to the surgical outcomes, the surgical time was found to be 84.34 ± 9.57 minutes, with a length of stay in the hospital of 2.7 ± 0.1 days; postoperative complications were observed in 12.77% of cases, and 51.06% of patients in the open reduction group demonstrated functional recovery of mobility. In contrast, surgical time was found to be 35.11 ± 4.91 minutes, length of stay in the hospital was 0.9 ± 0.1 days, and postoperative complications were observed in 6.38% of cases, and functional recovery of mobility was observed in 78.72% of patients. The physical function score was 73.4 ± 9.4, and the psychological function score was 74.66 ± 4.6 in the open reduction group. In contrast, the physical function score group was 87.5 ± 6.6, and the psychological function score was 85.4 ± 6.0 in the closed reduction and percutaneous pinning.

Conclusion: The present study indicates that both closed and open reduction procedures are equally effective in restoring functional recovery in pediatric patients, with closed reduction and percutaneous pinning being preferable.