Journal of pediatric orthopedics
-
Comparative Study
Use of functional electrical stimulation to augment traditional orthopaedic surgery in children with cerebral palsy.
The purpose of this study was to compare the functional outcomes of traditional lower extremity orthopaedic surgery to more limited surgery augmented with functional electrical stimulation (FES) applied while walking. Seventeen ambulatory children with cerebral palsy participated in this prospective pretest-posttest control group study. The surgical group (nine subjects) underwent traditional orthopaedic procedures. ⋯ No differences were seen between groups before or after intervention. The FES group underwent 4.5 fewer ablative procedures per child than the surgical group. These results suggest that FES in combination with more limited surgery may provide similar functional gains with fewer ablative procedures than traditional orthopaedic surgery.
-
Comparative Study
Effect of surgical delay on perioperative complications and need for open reduction in supracondylar humerus fractures in children.
This retrospective study examined whether a delay of greater than 12 hours is associated with an increased risk of perioperative complications in the operative treatment of supracondylar humerus fractures in children. Of 150 consecutive children with supracondylar fractures, 50 underwent surgery in less than 12 hours and 100 underwent surgery greater than 12 hours after injury. ⋯ There was no iatrogenic nerve injury, no compartment syndrome, and one pin tract infection in 150 patients. The study confirms previous retrospective studies finding no significant difference in perioperative complications or rate of open reduction in children undergoing early versus delayed surgical treatment of supracondylar humerus fractures.
-
Children with femur fractures can have severe pain after elastic nail fixation. The purpose of this paper is to test the effectiveness of an intraoperative hematoma block in controlling postoperative pain in children that underwent elastic nail fixation of isolated femur fractures. ⋯ The hematoma block did not significantly lengthen the time of surgery. This study demonstrates that an intra-operative hematoma block is a simple, quick and effective method of postoperative pain control after elastic femoral nailing in children.