Pediatric supracondylar humerus fractures are common injuries. The standard of care for management of displaced supracondylar fractures has become closed reduction and percutaneous pinning of the fracture in the operating room. We have been using a "semisterile" surgical technique, similar to what is used when placing a traction pin at the bedside. The purpose of this study was to evaluate our cases from 2000-2004 requiring closed reduction and percutaneous pinning to determine if this method had an infection rate comparable to what is reported in the literature. A total of 304 cases were identified. There were no superficial pin track infections or deep infections requiring treatment in any patient. A review of the literature regarding percutaneous pinning of supracondylar humerus fractures reveals an overall infection rate of 2.34% (45/1922) with a deep infection rate of 0.47% (9/1922). Consequently, the use of the semisterile technique is safe and an efficient way to handle these cases in saving time, cost, and materials. We also found that the administration of perioperative antibiotics may not be necessary as 68% of our patients did not receive any antibiotics during the perioperative or postoperative period. Finally, we found that 37% of our patients were discharged home the same day the surgery was performed, and there were no cases of compartment syndrome or Volkmann ischemic contracture. This indicates that observation overnight in the hospital may not be necessary for every patient.

Level II.

The purpose of this study was to examine the results of pediatric patients with type I open fractures managed nonoperatively. A retrospective chart review of all type I open fractures managed nonoperatively from 1998 to 2003 was performed. Forty patients were followed until healing of the fracture clinically and radiologically. One deep infection occurred in this series, producing an overall infection rate of 2.5%. This compares favorably with the literature's infection rate of 1.9% in pediatric type I open fractures treated operatively. There was a 0% infection rate in the 32 upper-extremity type I open fractures and a 0% infection rate in the 23 patients under age 12. These results suggest that nonoperative management of pediatric type I open fractures is safe and effective, especially in children under age 12 with upper-extremity fractures.

BackgroundThe management of pediatric type I open fractures remains controversial. There has been no consistent protocol established in the literature for the non-operative management of these injuries.MethodsA protocol was developed at our institution for the non-operative management of pediatric type I open forearm fractures. Each patient was given a dose of intravenous antibiotics at the time of the initial evaluation in the emergency department. The wound was then irrigated and a closed reduction performed in the emergency department. The patient was admitted for three doses of intravenous antibiotics (over approximately a 24-h period) and then discharged home without oral antibiotics.ResultsIn total, 45 consecutive patients were managed with this protocol at our hospital between 2004 and 2008. The average age was 10 (range 4–17) years. The average number of doses of intravenous antibiotics was 4.06 per patient. Thirty patients (67 %) received cefazolin (Ancef®) as the treating medication and 15 patients received clindamycin (33 %). There were no infections in any of the 45 patients.ConclusionIn this study we outline a consistent management protocol for type I open pediatric forearm fractures that has not previously been documented in the literature. Our results corroborate the those reported in the literature that pediatric type I open fractures may be managed safely in a non-operative manner. There were no infections in our prospective series of 45 consecutive type I open pediatric forearm fractures using our protocol. Using a protocol of only four doses of intravenous antibiotics (one in the emergency department and three additional doses during a 24-h hospital admission) is a safe and efficient method for managing routine pediatric type I open fractures non-operatively.

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