Researchers find increase in at-home pediatric fractures during the COVID-19 pandemic
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While overall pediatric fracture volume has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of injuries occurring at home, as well as on bicycles and trampolines, has increased more than 25%, according to published results.
Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia assessed 1,745 patients with acute fractures from March 15, 2020 to April 15, 2020, and compared the cohort with data from the same time frame in 2018 and 2019, according to the abstract.
“There was a significant decrease in the incidence of fractures presenting to our practice during the pandemic (22.5±9.1/d vs. 9.6±5.1/d, P<.001),” the researchers wrote in the abstract. “There were also a decrease in the number of fractures requiring surgery (2.2±1.8/d vs. 0.8±0.8/d, P<.001),” the researchers wrote.
Fracture volume also decreased in sports-related injuries (from 26% to 7.2%) and in playground-related injuries (from 9% to 5.2%), according to the abstract.
However, researchers found an increase in the proportion of fractures that occurred at home (from 32.5% to 57.8%) and on bicycles (from 8.2% to 18.3%).
“In endemic regions, lower trauma volume may allow redeployment of orthopedic surgeons and staff to other clinical arenas,” the researchers wrote. “Given the rising proportion of bicycling injuries, an emphasis on basic safety precautions could improve public health.”
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