Children’s Traumatology, also called Children’s Orthopedics or Children’s Orthopedic Surgery, is a subspecialty of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders in children and adolescents, i.e., the growing patient.
In childhood, bones and muscles are in continuous growth and development, and therefore orthopedic problems are different from those of adults and require different treatment. From this arises the need for a specialization within general orthopedic surgery oriented to treat the problems of this age.
What does pediatric traumatology study?
Pediatric traumatology studies all musculoskeletal disorders in the growing age: traumatic pathology, congenital malformations, developmental disorders of the extremities or spine, infections and osteoarticular tumors. Its objective is the prevention, early detection and adequate treatment of this pathology.
The most frequent pathology in children are fractures, in any location but especially in the wrist and elbow. Consultations are also frequent due to alterations in the shape of the lower extremities or differences in their length that cause alterations in gait. Less frequent but important in our specialty because they are characteristic pathologies of the child patient are developmental dysplasia of the hip, Perthes disease or idiopathic scoliosis.
Treatment of musculoskeletal disorders
More than prevention, early diagnosis is important, in order to solve them as soon as possible in the simplest way and avoid problems in adulthood.
The treatment of musculoskeletal pathology in children differs greatly from that of adults. In general, less surgical treatment is needed and treatment with casts or orthopedic appliances is used more often. However, in many cases surgical measures must be taken, most of which are different from those carried out in adult patients.