Seasonality in pediatric and adolescent orthopedic fractures – An experience from central India

Abstract

Background: Incidence of childhood fractures varies from 1.2% to 5%. Very few studies have considered environmental variables which may influence incidence of fractures, that too in pediatric age group. According to literatures incidence of fracture is found to be higher in summers as compared to winters. Aims and Objectives: To study the seasonal variation of pediatric and adolescent orthopedic fractures at our institute in Central India. Materials and Methods: Data of orthopaedic trauma in patients of age 0-18 years were collected from the institutional database of a tertiary care hospital for the period 2007–2017. Basic demographic characteristics, time and date of injury, nature of injury and outcome data were recorded and tabulated according to age, sex, month/season, part of body injured, and then analyzed for the patterns of injury. Results: A total of 3260 pediatric orthopedic trauma cases were included in study. Most of the injuries were seen in 6–15 years' age group (64%), most common mode of injury was fall while playing. There was a male preponderance to fractures (73% males vs. 27% females). Trauma mostly occurred during summers (48%) followed by rainy season (30%) and least during winter season (22%). Injury to spine was seen in 31 (0.95%) patients, upper limb injuries were seen in 1799 (55.18%) patients, and lower limb injuries were seen in 1430 (43.86%) patients. Conclusion: This study concludes that there exists vast variation in the incidence of fractures in the pediatric and adolescent fractures with maximum fractures being reported in the summer season, then rainy season, and least in the winter season. Health-care professionals and parents should be educated about injury prevention strategies, and also, there should be commitment for more health-care personnel and resources at trauma centers during the summer season to deal with increased patient load efficiently.

Keywords

• adolescent fractures
• pediatric fractures
• seasonal variation in fractures
• seasonal variation in orthopedic trauma