Tension band versus locking plate fixation for patella fractures - a protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Following surgical management of patella fractures, patients commonly report pain; difficulties with weight-bearing tasks such as walking, running and climbing stairs; and restrictions in quality of life. Recently, a locking plate system for surgical management of patella fractures has been introduced. To date, no studies have compared standard treatment with tension band wiring with locking plate fixation in a randomised study design. We aim to compare the one-year patient-reported Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome subscale scores (KOOS5-subscales) after standard care tension band fixation with locking plate fixation for patients with patella fractures. METHODS: This is a multicentre randomised and prospective clinical trial. A total of 122 patients will be included in the study, and the primary outcome will be the KOOS subscales at 12 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the present study are expected to advance our understanding of outcome following surgical treatment of patella fractures. FUNDING: This study is funded, in part, by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Denmark. CLINICALTRIALS: gov ID: NCT04891549.

Epidemiology and incidence of paediatric orthopaedic trauma workload during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter cohort study of 3171 patients.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a major influence on all parts of society. AIM: To examine the consequences of the national lockdown and political initiatives during the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic expressed by changes in incidences of musculoskeletal paediatric injuries. METHODS: Study design was a retrospective multicenter cohort study. A 'pandemic' cohort was established from 16 March 2020 to 21 April 2020, where all institutions including day care and schools were closed. A 'pre-pandemic' cohort was established from the same period in 2019 for comparison. Included were all patients admitted at the emergency departments with paediatric musculoskeletal injuries (aged 0-15 years) identified by a relevant musculoskeletal ICD-10 diagnosis (DSxxx), concussions (DZ033D), or burns (DT2xx). RESULTS: The 'pre-pandemic' cohort consisted of 2101 patients, and the 'pandemic' cohort consisted of 1070 patients, indicating a decrease of paediatric musculoskeletal injuries of 51%. The incidence of paediatric injury in the 'pre-pandemic' cohort was 10460/100000/year. In the 'pandemic' cohort, the incidence was 5344/100000/year. CONCLUSION: A resource re-allocation to help serve the COVID-19 patients might be possible without reducing the level of care for injury-related paediatric patients.

[Scaphoid fracture in a seven-year-old girl].

We report a case of a seven-year-old girl, who had a scaphoid fracture, which occurred when she fell off her bicycle. She was examined in the emergency room. X-ray did not show any sign of fracture of the scaphoid, but the fracture was later verified with a magnetic resonance imaging scan. She wore a shin cast for eight weeks and recovered completely. Very few cases of children aged under eight years and diagnosed with scaphoid fracture have been reported in the literature. Scaphoid fracture should be suspected and examined for in all children with relevant trauma and symptoms, regardless of age.

[Secondary dislocation of primarily unnoticed fracture of the medial clavicle].

This is a case report of a 16-year-old boy with a bipolar fracture of the left clavicle. The patient crashed into a car on a moped with 40 mph. In the accident & emergency department (A&E) the patient was examined physically and by X-ray. There was no protruding bone or threatened skin. The X-ray showed a lateral clavicle fracture, but there were no clinical or radiological signs of medial fracture. The treatment was conservative. Three days later the patient was referred to A&E due to increasing pain and bone protruding of the medial clavicle. A computed tomography revealed a displaced medial and lateral clavicle fracture. The treatment was altered to operative treatment.