Objective:

To describe the most common types of fractures in patients under 16 years of age at the forearm level, and to evaluate depending on the level of the fracture, the treatment with better results.

Material and methods:

We perform a retrospective analysis to determine the frequency of forearm fractures in patients under 16 years, in the period from January 2013-July 2017. The following diagnoses were entered into the system: forearm fracture, radius fracture, ulnar fracture and bilateral fracture.

Results:

We included 573 patients: 413 male, 160 females; right affected side: 230, left: 338, bilateral 5. Affected level: 438 distal, 102 mid-shaft and 33 proximal. The peak age of presentation was eight years. The initial treatment was conservative in 92%, followed by closed reduction and percutaneous fixation with 4.71 and 2.4% for open reduction and internal fixation with plates. There was a failed initial treatment at 3.83% when an inadequate reduction was found.

Discussion:

We found that the treatment of this fractures in our institution is conservative in 92%, closed reduction and percutaneous fixation in 4.71% and open reduction and internal fixation in a 2.4% being The highest prevalence in patients older than 12 years with bilateral mid-shaft fractures.