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OBJECTIVE: Tibial tubercle fractures are a unique class of pediatric orthopaedic injuries that frequently necessitate surgical treatment and strict monitoring due to the associated risk of acute compartment syndrome (ACS). However, current literature is conspicuously limited in its ability to estimate the risk of ACS after these fractures. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to utilize a nationwide database to estimate the prevalence of ACS after pediatric tibial tubercle fractures. METHODS: We utilized the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Kids' Inpatient Database (2019) to identify all pediatric patients, 18 years of age and under, with isolated tibial tubercle fractures (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision Clinical Modification S82.151-S82.156) and ACS (T79.A0, T79.A2, T79.A29). Patients were excluded if they had additional lower extremity injuries (ie, tibial shaft, plateau, etc). A subanalysis was conducted for those undergoing fasciotomy, with and without an ACS diagnosis. RESULTS: Among the 591 isolated tibial tubercle fractures, there were 8 ACS cases for a prevalence of 1.35%. There were 22 (3.72%) additional cases of fasciotomy without an ACS diagnosis. All ACS cases were diagnosed during the original hospitalization; all were male and had closed fractures. The cohort included 469 teenagers (13+ years) and 77 pre-teens, with 40 females and 506 males. Racial demographics: 132 white, 232 black, 112 Hispanic, 15 Asian, 4 Native American, 23 unknown, and 28 others. No significant associations were found between ACS and age, race, insurance status, mechanism of injury, or hospital region. CONCLUSION: The rate of ACS in pediatric tibial tubercle fractures appears to be much lower than previously reported, at 1.35%. However, the nearly three-fold higher prevalence of fasciotomy without an ACS diagnosis, suggests a generous use of prophylactic fasciotomies and/or an undercharacterization of actual ACS cases from miscoding. This is the first and largest study to employ a nationally representative database to investigate the prevalence of ACS after tibial tubercle fractures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.
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CASE: This case demonstrates the attempted utilization of an osteochondral allograft for the prevention of bony overgrowth in a patient with fibular hemimelia and previous transtibial amputation with failure of Teflon capping. Additionally, we describe a novel technique to provide additional padding and increase the width of the residual limb using a dermal allograft. CONCLUSIONS: Bony overgrowth after pediatric amputations is common and often necessitates revision procedures secondary to infection, ulceration, pain, and discomfort with prosthesis use. Our use of an osteochondral allograft cap to prevent bony overgrowth ultimately failed 13 months following the procedure, and further research on various graft options and other treatment modalities is warranted, especially if the proximal fibula is unavailable or there is concern for donor site morbidity associated with harvesting autologous grafts.
