Zusammenfassung: Unterarmfrakturen geh6ren zu den h~iufigsten Verletzungen im Kindes-und Jugendalter. In einem Zeitraum yon fiinf Jahren wurden insgesamt 783 Kinder und Jugendliche im Alter von einem his zu 17 Jahren mit Unterarmfrakturen behandelt. Der Altersdurchschnitt lag bei 10,2 Jahren. Es handelte sich vorwiegend um isolierte Verletzungen, und Schliisselwiirter: Unterarmfraktur 9 Kind 9 Konservative/operative Therapie
Treatment of Forearm Fractures in ChildrenAbstract: Forearm fractures rank among the most frequent injuries of children and adolescents. At our department, during a 5-year's period a total of 783 forearm fractures have been treated. The patient's age ranged between i and 17 years, with an average of 10.2 years. The vast majority were isolated forearm lesions without concomitant injuries, and the gender ratio of males to females was nearly 3 : 2. With 58.1% the left extremity was involved more frequently than the right one (40.4%), in 12 children (1.5%) fractures of both forearms were diagnosed simultaneously. Predominantly isolated radius fractures (59.1%) were seen, followed by complete forearm fractures (36.7%). Greenstick fractures occurred as frequent as 38.2%. With 78.7% the distal forearm was the most common location, followed by the middle and proximal shaft with 14.3% and 7.0%, respectively. Treatment was predominantly non-operative, only in 2.6% open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) became necessary. Therefore, majority treatment was outpatient and complications occurred very rarely. The data presented confirm the outstanding spontaneous correction capacity of the distal forearm in children in contrast to fractures located more proximally. Therefore, patients suffering from shaft fractures of the middle third have been invited to follow-up examinations revealing 44.4% excellent and good results, respectively. Fair 1Abteilung ftir Unfall-und Wiederherstellungschirurgie (Direktor: Prof. Dr. J. M. Rueger), Universitgtskrankenhaus Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Zentrum filr Biomechanik des UKE.