Management of children#39;s elbow trauma at the albert royer pediatric hospital in dakar (Senegal)

Objective: to study the diagnostic, therapeutic and evolutionary epidemiological data of elbow trauma in children in the pediatric surgery department of the Albert Royer Children's Hospital. Patients and Methods: this was a descriptive and analytical retrospective study. We included all patients under 15 years of age who had been treated for elbow trauma; and whose care and follow-up were done in the pediatric surgery department of the Albert Royer Children's Hospital between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Results: two hundred and seventeen patients met the selection criteria. The sex ratio was 1.4 and the median age was 5 years. The 1-4 age group was the most represented. Sixty-one point three percent (n = 113) of injuries are due to domestic accidents. The indirect mechanism was predominant (n = 131). The period of onset of trauma was mainly in the afternoon, with a peak between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (n = 42). The time between the trauma and the consultation was greater than 12 hours in 50.2% of cases. Fractures (83% supracondylar fractures) represented the main types of lesions (n = 149) followed by contusions (n = 55). Orthopaedic treatment was performed in 203 children (93.5%). Thirty percent (30%) had received traditional treatment prior to admission. Six children (2.8%) had complications. Elbow stiffness (50%) was the main one. The study showed that the time to consultation and the occurrence of morbidity varied significantly depending on the use of traditional treatment. Conclusion: more than half of these traumas occur at home, with the predominant lesion being fractures, which are treated orthopedically. However, the use of traditional healers is often a source of delayed diagnosis and high morbidity.