DISTAL HUMERAL FRACTURE: AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF ORTHOPEDIC PATIENTS FOR CHILDREN

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the epidemiological profiles of children with orthopedic distal humerus fractures. METHODS: An analytical descriptive study was conducted with a retrospective approach using medical records of 665 orthopedic children who attended the Jesser Amarante Faria Children's Hospital, a reference hospital in the city of Joinville, Santa Catarina, between June 2012 and December 2016. RESULTS: The results showed a predominance of male patients (64.2%), with a mean age of 7 years, and the age group of 6–10 years being the most frequent with 319 patients (48%). The main mechanism of trauma was fall of height in 59.7% of patients, Gartland type 1 fracture in 57.1%, and absence of vascular injury in 99.7%. Conservative management was implemented in 64.7% (95%) of patients. Absence of neurological lesion (95.6%) and closed lesion (99.4%) were the main epidemiological characteristics of patients in the study. A low complication rate was observed, with reduction losses in 1.7% of patients, followed by infections in 1.1%. CONCLUSION: We can conclude that the cases studied presented epidemiological characteristics similar to those described in the literature. Level of evidence IV, Description of a case series, with analysis of results, without a comparative study.