Role and significance of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in measurement of bone mineral density in children with upper extremity fractures / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To measure the bone mineral density in children with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and examine the relevance of bone mineral density with the risk of pediatric upper limb fracture.Methods A total of 864 children (8-14 years of age) admitted into our hospital in 2009 were involved in the study.The bone mass density (Z score) at the left radius was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.Children were grouped according to their Z score and age to observe correlations of Z value and age with the incidence of fractures.Results Thirty-three children were lost to follow-up.For the other 831 children,the mean duration of follow-up was 2 years.Z sore was ≤-2 in 66 children and ＞-2 in 765 children.There was significant difference in fracture incidence between children with Z score of ≤-2 and ＞-2 (27.27％ vs 5.49％,P ＜0.01).Furthermore,fracture incidence in children at age group of 8-10 years and 11-14 years revealed significant difference (10.83％ vs 5.03％,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Bone mineral density is closely related to upper limb fracture in children and increases with aging.Early application of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to detect the bone density is an effective primary measure for prevention of fractures in children.