What's the most likely diagnosis?
- 4 year old male with deformity of the forearm after falling from play gym
Two views of the forearm
- Galeazzi fracture-dislocation
- Fracture of the ulna
- Monteggia fracture-dislocation
- Fracture of the radius
- Fracture of radius with plastic bowing of ulna
Additional Image - No additional images
Additional Image
No additional images
Answer:
5. Fracture of radius with plastic bowing of ulna
More (Click Discussion Tab)
Fracture of radius with plastic bowing of ulna
General Considerations
- Deformation of the bone due to longitudinal stress
- Almost exclusively in children ages 2-5
- Produced by numerous microfractures on the concave surface of the bone with an intact cortex on the convex surface
- Most common in the forearm and may affect radius or ulna
- Most common form involves bowing of ulna with fracture of radius
- Rarity of these injuries (relative to actual fracture) is due to fact that
- Force must be exactly longitudinal
- Force must be greater than the maximal strength of the bone, and
- The force must be of shorter duration than the time it would take for a gross fracture to occur
- May also occur in the femur and fibula
More ...