Fracture of radial head and neck in children is a relatively rare injury and comprises 5 to 10 percent of fractures of the elbow in children. Its prognosis has been considered relatively good, but prognosis is poor in severely displaced fractures of the radial head and neck, especially types II and III by OBriens classification and have a high risk of complication.
We retrospectively reviewed 8 cases of radial head and neck fractures in 1 patients, who were treated from Jan.1992 to June 1994 at Kwang Myung Sung Ae Hospital.
They were followed up for more than 1 year.
The results were as follows;
1. There were 4 male and 3 female patients. One patient had bilateral involvement
2. The most common cause was fall down injury (6 cases).
3. According to O'Briens classification, 3 cases were type I and 5 cases were type II Treatments included simple immobilization(3 cases), closed reduction and plaster cast (4 cases), percutaneous K-wire leverage method(1 case).
4. According to the criteria of Tibone, the clinical result was excellent in 7 cases and good in 1 case. Primary angulation was the most important factor affecting the result and early closed reduction was important to obtain the satisfactory clinical result.