Children's ankle growth plate fracture reduces treatment burden with bioabsorbent screws
Dec 18, 2024
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Ankle growth plate fracture refers to damage to the ankle area, including the growth plate, which plays an important role in bone growth, and is common in children around the age of 10. Surgical treatment is essential because if the bone fragment of the fracture site is greatly displaced from its normal position, it may not stick properly or damage the growth plate, causing leg deformation or length differences.
Screws are used to fix the fracture site, and when metal screws are used, secondary surgery to remove the screws is required, which can cause a burden on patients and their families. In recent years, bioabsorbent screws that naturally decompose and absorb in the body over time and do not require additional surgery are attracting attention as effective alternatives.
Until now, the results of surgery using bioabsorbent screws have been reported for adult fracture patients, but few related studies have been conducted on pediatric patients. Accordingly, the research team conducted a study comparing the results of surgery when bioabsorbent screws and metal screws were used in pediatric patients with growth plate fractures in their ankles.
The research team compared the results of surgery using metal screws (40 patients) and bioabsorbent screws (27) on 67 children under the age of 15 who underwent surgery for ankle growth plate fractures. As a result, growth plate injury rate, surgical time, and postoperative ankle function were excellent in both groups, and there were no postoperative complications such as infection and wound, resulting in equal treatment results without significant differences.
However, there was a difference in the length of hospitalization, and the average hospitalization period of the patient group who underwent surgery using a bioabsorbent screw was 2.6 days, which was about half shorter than the patient group who underwent surgery using a metal screw (5.2 days), resulting in less time burden.
In particular, the research team suggested that bioabsorbent screws could be used as a safer alternative for pediatric patients in that they avoid the risk of general anesthesia because they do not require additional surgery to remove screws.
Professor Sung Ki-hyuk said, "A study has shown that surgery using bioabsorbent screws can contribute to improving patients' overall treatment experience. Based on this study, we will continue our study to find out the effectiveness of using bioabsorbent screws not only for ankle growth plate fractures but also for patients with fractures in other areas."
Meanwhile, the results of this study were published in the international journal of SCI-level orthopedics 'International Orthopaedics'.
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bellho@sportschosun.com
