Infection and re-fracture are well-described complications following open paediatric forearm fractures. The purpose of this paper is to determine if patient, injury, and treatment characteristics can be used to predict the occurrence of these complications following the surgical management of paediatric open forearm fractures.

This is an IRB-approved retrospective review at a single-institution paediatric level 1 trauma centrefrom 2007–2013 of all open forearm fractures. Medical records were reviewed to determine the type of open fracture, time to administration of initial antibiotics, time from injury to surgery, type of fixation, length of immobilisation, and complications. Radiographs were studied to document fracture characteristics.

262 patients with an average age of 9.7 years were reviewed. There were 219 Gustillo-Anderson Type 1 open fractures, 39 Type 2 fractures, and 4 Type 3 fractures. There were 9 infections (3.4%) and 6 re-fractures (2.3%). Twenty-eight (10.7%) patients returned to the operating room for additional treatment; 21 of which were for removal of implants. Contaminated wounds, as documented within the medical record, had a greater chance of infection (21% vs 2.2%, p=0.002). No difference in infection rate was seen with regard to timing of antibiotics (p=0.87), timing to formal debridement (p=0.20), Type 1 versus Type 2 or 3 open fractures (3.4% vs 5.0%, p=0.64), 24 hours vs. 48 hours of post-operative IV antibiotics (5.2% vs 3.5%, p=0.53), or when comparing diaphyseal, distal, and Monteggia fracture patterns (3.6 vs 2.9% vs 5.9%, p=0.81). There was no difference in infection rate when comparing buried or exposed intramedullary implants (3.5% vs 4.2%, p>0.99). Rate of re-fracture was not increased based on type of open wound (p>0.99) or fracture type (0.4973), although 5 of the 6 re-fractures were in diaphyseal injuries.

In this series of open paediatric both bone forearm fractures, initial wound contamination was a significant risk factor for subsequent infection. The rate of infection did not vary with timing of antibiotics or surgery, type of open fracture, or length of post-operative antibiotics. A trend to higher re-fracture rates in diaphyseal injuries was noted. Surgeons should consider planned repeat irrigation and debridement for open forearm fractures with obviously contaminated wounds to reduce the subsequent infection risk.