This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
AAOS approves new guideline for the treatment of pediatric diaphyseal femur fractures
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' (AAOS) Board of Directors approved a new clinical practice guideline for the treatment of pediatric diaphyseal femur fractures.
The new guideline — the first of its kind in the field — provides physicians with an established metric by which to analyze their patients’ injuries.
According to an AAOS press release, the new guideline helps physicians in three ways:
- it outlines the best-known practices depending on the age and size of the child;
- it assures the most thorough review of all evidence-based outcomes of treatment by reviewing more than 42 years of published research; and
- it highlights what research work still needs to be done to better predict and navigate future care and research.
“Our treatment recommendations include not just best practices but a heightened level of attention to the child’s social and emotional state,” Ernest L. Sink, MD, vice chair of the AAOS group which established the guideline, said in the press release.
“If you are a parent, you can be relieved to know that thousands of hours of peer review went into the development of this guideline, and if you are a physician, you can trust that your peers have given these treatment options and outcomes the most comprehensive review,” he said.
The pediatric diaphyseal femur fracture clinical practice guideline presents the results of a symptomatic review of published studies from 1966 to Oct. 1, 2008 on the treatment of isolated diaphyseal femur fractures in children. It features 14 specific recommendations and highlights the gaps in the existent literature and areas that require further research.
The guidelines are very inclusive, according to AAOS Past President James H. Beaty, MD.
“At the end of the day, it provides food for thought as far as what research can be done in the future, and I think it will help guide that process as well,” he told Orthopedics Today. “When you look at the summary of the guidelines — the years’ worth of publications researched — it was an exhaustive effort. … I think the work group is to be congratulated.
“Certainly, using evidence-based guidelines is a good starting point for the decision-making process for physicians in the management of pediatric diaphyseal femur fractures,” he added.
For more information:
- James H. Beaty, MD, is a professor of orthopedics at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tenn. He can be reached at the Campbell Clinic, 869 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38103; e-mail: jbeaty@campbellclinic.com.
Reference: