Background: To investigate the risk factors for open fractures in children and adolescents (≤18 years old) presenting with traumatic fractures.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 2418 children and adolescents who presented with traumatic fractures and were admitted to our university-affiliated hospitals, among which 206 patients (8.5%) presented with open fractures.
Results: This study enrolled 1789 males (74.0%) and 629 females (26.0%) with an average age of 11.2±5.0 years. There were 206 patients (8.5%) who presented with open fractures. The five most common fracture sites were the tibia (31.1%, 64/206), fibula (20.9%, 43/206), phalanx (15.5%, 32/206), humerus (11.2%, 23/206) and ulna (9.7%, 20/206). Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that the aetiology (P﹤0.001) and fracture site (P﹤0.001) were risk factors for open fracture. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that mechanical trauma (OR=64.229, P﹤0.001), being hurt/cut by others (OR=26.757, P﹤0.001), and being struck by an object (OR=15.345, P﹤0.001) were stronger risk factors for open fracture than were low falls; additionally, lower limb fractures (OR=5.970, P﹤0.001), upper limb fractures (OR=5.865, P﹤0.001) and multiple fractures (OR=5.414, P﹤0.001) were stronger risk factors than craniofacial fractures for open fractures.
Conclusions: Aetiology (especially being injured by a machine or being hurt/cut by others) and the fracture site (including lower limb fractures, upper limb fractures and multiple fractures) were independent risk factors for open fractures.