The growth plate, also known as the epiphyseal plate or physis, is the area
of growing tissue near the end of the long bones in
children and
adolescents.
Each long bone has at least two growth plates: one at each end. The growth plate
determines the future length and shape of the mature bone. When growth is
complete--sometime during adolescence--the growth plates close and are replaced
by solid bone.
Who Gets Growth Plate Injuries?
These injuries occur in children and adolescents. The growth plate is the
weakest area of the growing skeleton, weaker than the nearby ligaments and
tendons that connect bones to other bones and muscles. In a growing child, a
serious injury to a joint is more likely to damage a growth plate than the
ligaments that stabilize the joint. An injury that would cause a
sprain in an
adult can be associated with a growth plate injury in a child.
Injuries to the growth plate are
fractures. They comprise 15 percent of all
childhood fractures. They occur twice as often in boys as in girls, with the
greatest incidence among 14- to 16-year-old boys and 11- to 13-year-old girls.
Older girls experience these fractures less often because their bodies mature at
an earlier age than boys. As a result, their bones finish growing sooner, and
their growth plates are replaced by stronger, solid bone.
Approximately half of all growth plate injuries occur in the lower end of the
outer bone of the forearm (radius) at the wrist. These injuries also occur
frequently in the lower bones of the leg (tibia and fibula). They can also occur
in the upper leg bone (femur) or in the ankle, foot, or hip bone.
Fractures occur when bone cannot withstand the outside forces applied to the bone. Fractures can be open or closed. Types of fractures include: greenstick, spiral, comminuted, transverse, compound, or vertebral compression. Common fractures include: stress fracture, compression fracture, rib fracture, and skull fracture. Treatment depends upon the type of fracture.
Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone. Potential causes include injections around the bone, fractures that puncture the skin, recent surgeries, and bacterial infections that travel from other areas of the body, spreading through the blood to the bone. Symptoms include pain, fever, chills, stiffness, and nausea. Treatment involves antibiotics and pain medications. Surgery is sometimes necessary.
An injury to a ligament is called a sprain, and an injury to muscle or tendon is called a strain. Sprains and strains may be caused by repetitive movements or a single stressful incident. Symptoms include pain and swelling. Though treatment depends upon the extent and location of the injury, rest, ice, compression, and elevation are key elements of treatment.
Child abuse falls into four categories: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. There are certain risk factors that predispose a child to being abused and an adult to abusing a child. Risk factors for children are age, children with learning disabilities, adopted and foster children, children with congenital abnormalities, and a past history of abuse. Parental risk factors include young or single parents, those who suffered abuse themselves, adults with substance-abuse problems or psychiatric disease, and those who didn't graduate from high school.
Juvenile arthritis (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis or JRA) annually affects one child in every thousand. There are three types of JRA: pauciarticular (less than four joints affected), polyarticular (more than four joints affected), and systemic-onset (inflamed joints with high fevers and rash). Treatment of juvenile arthritis depends upon the type the child has and should focus on treating the symptoms that manifest.
There are two categories to cold weather-related injuries. 1) no freezing of body tissue (trench foot and chilblains), and 2) freezing of body tissues (frostbite). Chilblains in general, will not need medical attention (unless there is infection). Trench foot and frostbite, however, require medical attention. Symptoms of frostbite include pain, burning, numbness, and eventually a complete loss of sensation in the affected body part. The young, elderly, and patients with certain medical conditions (diabetes, hypothyroidism, circulatory problems, and psychiatric illnesses), are more susceptible to cold weather-related injuries. People who abuse alcohol and illicit drug user are also at risk for cold weather-related injuries.
Children's health is focused on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence. There are many aspects of children's health, including growth and development, illnesses, injuries, behavior, mental illness, family health and community health.
An MRI (or magnetic resonance imaging) scan is a
radiology technique that uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer
to produce images of body structures. The MRI scanner is a tube
surrounded by a giant circular magnet. The patient is placed on
a moveable bed that is inserted into the magnet. The magnet creates
a strong magnetic field that aligns the protons of hydrogen atoms,
which are then exposed to a beam of radio waves. This spins the
various protons of the body, and they produce a faint signal
that is detected by the receiver portion of the MRI scanner.
The receiver information is processed by a computer, and an image
is produced.
The image and resolution produced by MRI is quite detailed and can
detect tiny changes of structures within the body. For some procedures, contrast agents, such as gadolinium, are used to increase the accuracy of the images.
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