PERINATAL LEFT FEMORAL SHAFT FRACTURE IN A NEWBORN FEMALE BORN IN EMERGENCY CAESARIAN SECTION: A CASE REPORT AND LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE INCIDENCE RATE

Perinatal femoral fractures (PFF) are extremely rare birth-related fractures. These fractures are reported as case reports or small case series. The incidence is 0.024/0.077 of 1000 newborns. Currently the gold standard treatment has not been well codified. This case report gives an adjunctive point of view of diagnosis and treatment about these rare cases. We reported a case of a newborn female with a few hours of life that presented a left shaft fracture of the femur birth-related to cesarean born (AO PCCF 32D/4.1). The patient was treated with Bryant’s traction for 21 days. Hard bone callus formation was seen after 9 days from the beginning of the treatment. The fracture showed clinical and radiologic healing with abundant callus formation within 3 weeks after removing the traction; no further immobilization was necessary. No severe complications were observed during hospitalization. At the final follow-up no deformity, shortening, or other significant complications were observed. Given the rarity of this lesion, we believe it is relevant to report these cases to improve the knowledge on the treatment and the clinical outcome of this rare pathology. It should also be noted that this type of trauma can occur in any center and at any time and it is crucial to have clear guidelines on the most accepted therapeutic strategies. An early diagnosis and an optimal treatment allow to obtain better outcomes and optimal newborn recovery.