Team: News and Events
Posted on January 06, 2016
Team: News and Events
Date: This is not a timed event.
Is it a fracture or a sprain?
Dr. Kathy Boutis and colleagues debunk the 50 year doctrine that "children fracture before sprain." The results of this latest study, published January 2016 in JAMA Pediatrics, demonstrated that the commonly made presumptive diagnosis of Salter-Harris type 1 fracture of the distal fibula (SH1DF) is rarely confirmed by MRI. Instead, children most often had sprains, occasionally associated with radiographically occult avulsion fractures. Additionally, they established that children with fractures detectable only by MRI had comparable recovery compared to those with sprains when treated with a removable ankle brace and self-regulated return to activities.
These results have important implications, including the potential to simplify the care of these common injuries and reduce health care expenditures. At a glance:
Congratulations to Dr. Kathy Boutis and colleagues on the publication of this landmark study.
Article:
Editorial:
Dr. Kathy Boutis is an Emergency Physician at the Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and is the TREKK content advisor for fractures.
Second author, Dr. Amy Plint is a an Emergency Physician at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), a TREKK board member, the TREKK content advisor for bronchiolitis, and chair of Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC).