Introduction: Agricultural polytrauma injuries in children are rare. Rotating blades of a rotavator can cause devastating injuries. Case Report: An 11-year-old male child presented with severe facial avulsion injuries, degloving injury of left lower limb, grade IIIB compound left tibia shaft fracture with a large butterfly fragment, and closed right tibia shaft fracture. General anesthesia through tracheostomy intubation was given. Simultaneous surgical intervention for the face and limbs was performed by a team of experts. The facial injury was debrided and repaired. After thorough debridement, compound left tibia fracture fixation was performed with two interfragmentary screws and neutralizing ankle-spanning external fixator. The closed right tibia shaft fracture was treated with closed elastic intramedullary nailing. Simultaneous debridement of degloving injuries over both thighs was performed and wound closure was done. Subsequently, the patient underwent debridement of wounds and vacuum-assisted closure 3 times with split skin grafting for the left leg. All fractures healed well at 6 months and the child was able to do all activities without any functional limitations. Conclusion: Agricultural injuries in Children can be devastating and should be managed using a multidisciplinary approach at a tertiary care center. A tracheostomy is a viable option for securing the airway in severe facial avulsion injuries. In a hemodynamically stable child, definitive fixation can be performed in a polytrauma situation and an external fixator can be used as a definitive implant in an open long bone fracture.
INTRODUCTION: A nail bed injury concomitant with an underlying physeal injury of the distal phalanx is termed as "Seymour's fracture." These are seemingly innocuous injuries commonly misdiagnosed and are subsequently under-treated. These injuries demand treatment like an open fracture to prevent complications such as infection, growth arrest, and nail dystrophies. CASE REPORT: A 13-year-old boy suffered Seymour's fracture of the left ring finger distal phalanx after a direct injury from a dodge ball. The fracture was treated with thorough debridement with normal saline, physeal injury reduction through the wound, and fixation with k-wire passed through the tip of the ring finger, metaphysic, physis, and the tip of the k-wire ending in the epiphysis of the distal phalanx. The nail bed was sutured with 3-0 monofilament absorbable sutures. The fracture healed at 3 months and a 1-year follow-up showed a completely formed nail without any deformity. CONCLUSION: Excellent outcome was observed with debridement of the wound, nail bed repair, and fixation with k-wire in our case. Nail bed injuries in children should be treated with a high index of suspicion for Seymour's fracture as it necessitates treatment like that of an open fracture to avoid complications.
INTRODUCTION: Segmental tibia fractures with extensive soft tissue injuries are rare and surgical intervention is challenging with no definitive treatment strategies. CASE REPORT: A 52-year-old man presented with closed right segmental tibia and fibula fracture with extensive blistering of skin caused due to road traffic accident. Distal pulses were palpable and there were no signs of compartment syndrome and other systemic injuries. In the presence of extensive blistering, a monoplanar external fixator was applied within 24 h of injury. 3 weeks later, skin condition was conducive for internal fixation, and closed intramedullary multi-locking nailing was performed using the external fixator for reduction. Fracture healed at 15 months and patient had an excellent functional outcome with full knee range of motion at 2-years follow-up without any complications. CONCLUSION: Fixator-assisted nailing is a simple, minimally invasive, and easily reproducible technique that is useful in reducing the fracture and preventing axial rotation of the intercalary segment minimizing the damage to the periosteal blood supply. Our case also highlights the importance of temporary external fixator in soft tissue healing and making the skin conducive for internal fixation.
Introduction Closed reduction percutaneous pinning (CRPP) is the current standard of treatment for displaced supracondylar fractures of humerus in children. This technical note describes a simple method of CRPP using a radiolucent arm board and simpler handling of the C-arm. This technique is a simple method and easy to reproduce, can be adapted to any standard operating table, and gives predictable results.
INTRODUCTION: Atypical femoral fractures (AFFs) have an unpredictable healing process leading to higher complication rates. The literature describes various treatment modalities of non-unions in AFF. We aimed to report a case of non-union with AFF and successful union with exchange K-nailing and augmented plating techniques. CASE REPORT: A 75-year-old lady with 5 years of bisphosphonate intake sustained an AFF at the mid-diaphyseal level after a trivial injury which was fixed with closed intramedullary nailing. Nine months after fixation, she developed refracture at the fracture site with segmental breakage of the nail suggesting non-union. This was managed by the removal of fibrous structures at the fracture site, removal of a broken nail, exchange K-nailing, augmented plating, and iliac crest bone grafting. The fracture healed at 15 months from the injury and achieved good functional outcome at a short-term follow-up of 1 year. CONCLUSION: Our case report highlights the challenges of treating diaphyseal AFF and the combined benefit of exchange nailing and augmented plating with bone grafting in treating AFFs with non-union.
INTRODUCTION: Ponseti casting method is the gold standard for the management of congenital talipes equinovarus in neonates, which consists of weekly manipulation and serial casting. Using oscillatory saw for cast removal is user-dependant and has been fraught with complications consisting of saw burns, thermal abrasions, anxiety, and fear of the saw (especially in children). The aim of this article is to describe our technique of cast removal using visual media format. TECHNIQUE: This video describes an easy method of cast soakage with lukewarm water. Once the cast is soaked in water, the knob is identified, and the loosened outer layer of the cast is unwrapped in layers. Complete procedure can be done at home by parents. Since no equipment is utilized, the technique eliminates all complications associated with an oscillating saw. CONCLUSION: Cast soakage with lukewarm water followed by unwrapping is a simple and cost-effective method of Ponseti cast removal which can be done by parents at home improving the overall satisfaction of the family.
