My 6 y/o daughter broke her right leg on her scooter yesterday. Sounds like she was going a bit too fast down our street and tried to do a bunny hop or something. The wife was outside with her but didnt see the actual crash. I splinted it myself by making a cardboard padded splint like we use in the field, and called 911 to have her taken to the ER since we wouldnt move her without causing extreme pain. They put her in a temporary splint and gave her pain meds, and fowarded the xrays to Kaiser Ortho. Kaiser cant do an othro appt until Friday am, and even then because of Covid its going to be a video/phone consult. It sounds like its not a break that requires surgery but we wont really know until after the consult.

My question is what is the typical amount of time for a tibia fracture in a peds patient to get a rigid cast put on? I understand the swelling has to go down so Ive heard anywhere from 1-2 weeks. We had plans to drive to Idaho later next week to visit family, but were not going unless she: 1-has a cast in place 2- isnt in unmanageable pain 3- We get the ok from the Dr to travel. Ive attached pics of the fracture- why do kids always pull this crap right before a vacation

This message has been edited. Last edited by: medic451,

poor girl -- i wish her a swift, full and healthy recovery !!

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Tomminator broke his left arm just after learning to ride his bike about two months ago. He did that on a Tuesday or wed...didn’t get a hard cast until the following Monday.

He had no swelling, so they didn’t have to wait for that- it’s just that there is only one ortho clinic in the county and due to the ‘rona they have limited their rooms/treatment to half of what it was before.

Kids ibuprofen worked fine for him and he was only t asking it for a week.

Good luck with her, hope she mends fast.

I don't know about a 6-year-old child, but I broke the same leg in the same place, landing badly sky-jumping, at about age 32 or there-abouts. They put it in a rigid cast as soon as I got to the hospital.

Mine was an exceptionally clean break, however, and there was little swelling to speak of.

While I cannot answer your questions I do wish your daughter a full and speedy recovery.

At least it's not displaced and it's a nice clean break. I think a cast and 6-8 weeks and she will be good.

Ouch!!!

Wishing her s speedy recovery.

Poor girl. I’ve been there, broke my leg in just about the same place at her age. They should cast it pretty quick if no surgery is necessary. 2 months or so she’ll get it off.

Bless her heart. I was at the ortho about a month ago and there was a little girl angel with a broken arm that came in. Then came in a little red headed boy with two broken wrists. The doctor apologized for my long wait. I told him that the little ones cone first.

If'n she was a dog.... that would get a bone plate and in 6 weeks we'd reassess. The long oblique fracture doesn't lend itself to load bearing very well, at least in dogs, though the fibula being intact would help some. There again, most dogs aren't willing to stay off the leg and play video games for 6 weeks, so on a kid I'd bet a cast and 6 weeks would work.

I love the pix. Good for her. I wish her well in the recovery. My guess is this is something she will look back at and have fond memories of the experience. Sort of a badge of honor

Just another paramedics opinion, but I’d guess it needs to be pinned. Best of luck to her! Poor friend..

Thanks for the replies. We managed to get her to sit up and stand with crutches today- she cried pretty bad for a while mostly because of nerves. Once she stood up on the good leg she realized it doesnt hurt to stand up. Shes in good spirits and denies any pain now at rest. We havent given here anything but ibuprofen since 4am, but we have some liquid norco just in case. Im gonna save that stuff for bedtime as they only gave us about 8 doses worth.

To speed healing there are a couple of modalities that work. One is a microcurrent machine, sometimes called a bone stimulator. Both chiropractors and orthopedists use these.

Also use of Low Level Light Therpy (cold laser) would work, but because of the cast a bone stimulator would be better. Proper use would expect the healing time to be cut in half.

Cute kid. Looks tough. She will pull through. Have to be patient these days. They sometimes do surgery to lead to a faster recovery rather than a cast. Orthopedics has gotten much more specialized. No longer does the family doc slap on a cast and call it good. Keep us posted.

My kid broke the femur, no cast, but had a plate and screws holding it together.
Was up and walking the day after the surgery (just as soon as they closed the drain), we went home that save afternoon.

I forget the total heal time, but it was way faster than I expected.

Good luck and best wishes to yours!

With that single xray view, that appears to be a nondisplaced, or very minimally displaced, spiral fracture. Unlikely to need any hardware. Just a long leg cast for about 6 weeks. Not ortho doc, btw. bone doc hopefully will drop in and chime in.

Good info, I attached a few other xrays for views. She wouldnt rotate her leg in the ER so the tech just moved the machine to get alternate views- in otherwords she wouldnt budge.

So did they cast it?

Not yet. We have to go through a phone consult with Kaiser Ortho dept tomorrow at 10am, and I have no idea what happens next. Its kinda frustrating, its like Kaiser knows what the plan is but doesnt bother telling you until they feel like it. I dont understand why we had to wait until Friday to speak to Ortho, especially if they arent going to do anything until next week.