Functional recovery after reduced pediatric fractures of the forearm with respect to perceived limitations, common post-traumatic symptoms, range of motion, and dexterity: a prospective study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Enrollment flow diagram.

a flow diagram chart showing the number of patients excluded, and displaying the final number of patients in each treatment group.

Table 1. Overview of the study population according to fracture type.

	N	Age (SD)	Male (%)	Dominant hand (%)	CR (%)	CRIF (%)	ORIF (%)
Radius	17	11.8 (3.3)	16 (94.1)	9 (52.9)	12 (70.6)	3 (17.6)	2 (11.8)
Both-bone	37	9.0 (3.2)	23 (62.2)	14 (37.8)	10 (27.0)	20 (54.1)	7 (18.9)
Total	54	9.9 (3.4)	39 (72.2)	23 (42.6)	22 (40.7)	23 (42.6)	9 (16.7)

CR: closed reduction; CRIF: closed reduction, internal fixation; ORIF: open reduction, internal fixation.

Figure 2. Percentage of children experiencing a specific symptom at T1, T2, and T3.

a series of 7 bar charts representing the percentage of children experiencing each post-traumatic symptom, clustered in three bars representing the measurement sessions at 6 weeks (dark blue), 3 months (medium blue) and 6 months (light blue) post-trauma.

Table 2. Range of motion and dexterity of affected versus unaffected side.

		Affected side		Unaffected side		Sig. (2-tailed)
		Mean	SD	Mean	SD
MCP I flexion (°)	T1	56	12.909	60	10.885	0.002
	T2	57	13.244	60	11.132	0.076
	T3	59	10.451	60	10.594	0.571
Lateral abduction thumb (°)	T1	55	11.910	59	12.179	0.007
	T2	56	12.280	59	12.597	0.157
	T3	56	10.310	59	12.822	0.060
Wrist dorsal flexion (°)	T1	54	14.304	69	10.668	<0.001
	T2	66	11.739	69	10.657	0.103
	T3	71	13.949	69	10.178	0.365
Wrist palmar flexion (°)	T1	53	14.849	71	11.585	<0.001
	T2	64	10.379	71	11.474	<0.001
	T3	70	7.524	71	11.528	0.516
Wrist radial deviation (°)	T1	26	7.105	31	6.550	<0.001
	T2	30	6.776	31	6.329	0.634
	T3	32	7.787	31	6.438	0.302
Wrist ulnar deviation (°)	T1	33	7.088	40	8.781	<0.001
	T2	39	8.748	41	8.586	0.341
	T3	42	8.632	40	8.808	0.439
Pronation (°)	T1	71	15.715	84	10.867	<0.001
	T2	76	14.623	84	10.918	0.002
	T3	81	11.507	83	11.467	0.306
Supination (°)	T1	78	24.358	96	19.299	<0.001
	T2	93	21.575	96	18.736	0.276
	T3	101	16.124	93	16.604	0.015
Elbow flexion (°)	T1	141	6.995	142	5.734	0.142
	T2	143	6.029	142	5.584	0.528
	T3	144	4.205	142	5.711	0.024
Elbow extension (°)	T1	4	7.532	5	5.921	0.542
	T2	6	5.746	5	5.787	0.376
	T3	7	6.241	5	5.869	0.113
Dexterity (s)	T1	25	7.935	23	6.252	0.011
	T2	23	6.466	22	5.573	0.189
	T3	22	5.183	21	4.993	0.405

ROM of the affected hand, wrist and elbow of the affected side in degrees at all 3 measurement sessions, compared to ROM of the unaffected side at T1. Dexterity of the affected side in seconds compared to that of the unaffected side at all measurement sessions. ROM: range of motion; T1: 6 weeks post-trauma; T2: 3 months post-trauma; T3: 6 months post-trauma; SD: standard deviation; Sig.: significance.

Bold values represent <0.05.

Table 3. Variables of influence on recovery of ROM and dexterity over time.

	ROM									Dexterity
	Flexion	Extension	Pronation	Supination	Dorsal flexion	Palmar flexion	Radial deviation	Ulnar deviation	Lateral abduction thumb	Affected hand	Unaffected hand
Intercept	<0.001	0.002	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Time	0.004	0.073	0.002	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.010	<0.001	0.817	0.008	0.008
Treatment modality	0.314	0.734	0.313	0.304	0.057	0.015	0.906	0.020	0.703	0.208	0.665
Gender	0.391	0.587	0.473	0.139	0.751	0.659	0.894	0.510	0.960	0.047	0.404
Age	0.017	0.218	0.041	0.001	0.174	0.989	0.192	0.516	0.100	<0.001	<0.001
Dominant hand affected										0.892	0.047
Time × treatment	0.360	0.051	0.114	0.678	0.350	0.051	0.050	0.487	0.819	0.913	0.111

Bold values represent <0.05.