Children Breaking Bones

Children’s playground safety is an issue that requires more attention to ensure that children’s broken bones don’t lead to complications that trouble them for the rest of their lives. 10 year old Renee Novelli is a bundle of energy. When she’s not doing gymnastics, she’s playing on her jungle gym set or riding her bike. But, all of this activity has cost her several trips to the emergency room.

“"I was skiing and I fell and I hit my arm on an ice boulder. I heard a crack and realized it was my wrist",” says Renee. No sooner did she heal, than another fall landed her right back in the hospital.

According to recent data reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, much more precautions need to be taken to improve children’s playground safety, so that children’s fractures don’t cause them severe problems throughout their lives. As things stand orthopedic trauma is taking a heavy toll on America’s children.

Dr. Michael Vitale is an orthopedic surgeon at Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. "“If you look at children playground safety, there’s cause for concern. Between the years 1997 to 2000, a large number of cases of children with fractures required hospitalization. Even the small part of orthopedic trauma, the significant trauma that requires hospitalization is a huge number. There are almost 100,000 kids that are significantly injured and injured to the extent where they require hospitalization",” he says. Femur fractures, fractures of the elbow and tibia are among the most common cases of children’s fractures.

The data also showed that the highest mortality rates was for vertebral fractures, followed by pelvic fractures which led to the deaths of 5 per 900 patients. These fractures are primarily due to motor vehicle accidents, and not an indication of children’s playground safety. “"Unfortunately, despite all of our efforts to improve safety in car seats and seatbelts, it seems that the number of accidents and the number of significant injuries that we see is on the rise",” reports Dr. Vitale who also cautions that playground injuries can be devastating.

“Children with fractures are often in a very serious condition. Children with a spine fractures can often have a neurological injury, an injury to the spinal cord that leaves them with weakness or sometimes an inability to walk.” Paulette Novelli, Renee’s mom, says "she knows she can’t hold Renee back from her activities, but she just doesn’t want to see any more damage done to her wrist. “I’m extremely concerned that she’ll break it again",” says Paulette. “It’s really important that we try to raise awareness on children’s fractures, and on ways as we can avoid these injuries. "At the very least treat we have to treat children’s fractures appropriately so that the kids can get back to being kids quickly",” says Dr. Vitale.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons has launched a children’s playground safety campaign where they’re visiting playgrounds in different cities across America assessing their safety and addressing what could be done to make them safer.