Fractures of long tubular bones in newborns: mechanisms of injuries, methods of diagnosis, and treatment

Background. Medical information on the provision of emergency trauma care to newborns with fractures of tubular bones is scarce. Aim. This scientific review aimed to inform children's orthopedic traumatologists regarding the main mechanisms of injury, methods of diagnosis, and treatment of fractures of long tubular bones in newborns. Material and methods. The article presents a systematic analysis of 60 scientific works of domestic and foreign authors on topical aspects of fractures of long tubular bones in newborns from 1986 to 2018. For writing the literature review, we used modern electronic databases of medical information: PubMed, MEDLINE, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, DOAJ, Cyberleninka, and еLibrary. Results and discussion. Similarly from the analysis of scientific publications, the main mechanism of fractures of limb segments in newborns is intranatal trauma, in which the child can receive both during birth through the birth canal and during cesarean section. The predisposing factors for obtaining bone fractures are intrauterine osteopenia, congenital diseases of the digestive system, and prematurity. Fractures are diagnosed on the basis of clinical examination and results of ultrasound and X-ray studies of the injured limb. In the treatment of limb bone fractures, both conservative and surgical methods are used. In recent years, a tendency has been clearly observed in scientific publications, highlighting the ever-widening introduction into clinical practice of operational methods for stabilizing fractures of long tubular bones in newborns, including using the techniques of transosseous osteosynthesis. Conclusion. The presented article fills the existing gap of summarizing scientific publications on the treatment of fractures of limbs in newborns.