St. Joseph's Healthcare System

Presenting Allan Strongwater, MD, Chief, Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery, St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, to discuss a variety of Pediatric Orthopedic abnormalities and steps parents can take to ensure proper growth and care.

Orthopedic injuries including fractures most commonly are very prevalent in the pediatric population. Ligaments and tendons in children are much stronger. Frequently tumors, bone infections and other anomalies can present with pain and should not be classified as a sprain until certain. Fractures to growing bones require very specific follow-up. Children are very susceptible to fractures in the growth plate, injuries in the growth plate can result in long-term growth disturbance. The growth plate is the part of a bone that is the weakest. Many times children's bone breaks in continuity, "a green stick fracture." Generally x-rays will show a deformity or a small crack. It is not uncommon to see a "toddler's fracture" where a 2-year old will suddenly stop walking due to a fracture that may not even show up on an x-ray. Children in adolescent years experience a thinning growth plate which is still susceptible to fractures resulting in growth abnormality. Swelling of a joint, large areas of black and blue marks, and favoring of a specific limb requires specific attention from an orthopedist.