The incidence, trends, and costs of treatment of femoral shaft fractures among Finnish children aged 2–12 years between 1998 and 2016

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and trends of both hip spica casting and elastic stable intramedullary nailing in children aged 2–12 years who sustained femoral diaphyseal fracture between 1998 and 2016 in Finland. We also evaluated the actual hospital costs of both treatment methods as well as calculating the length of hospital stay. Methods: This study included all 2- to 12-year-old children with femoral diaphyseal fracture who were treated in Finland between 1998 and 2016. Data were collected from the National Hospital Discharge Register of Finland. Children were classified by age into five groups. The annual incidences per 100,000 persons were calculated using annual mid-year population census data obtained from Statistics Finland. Data on the annual actual daily hospital costs were collected from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. Results: In total, 1064 patients aged 2–12 years who had sustained femoral diaphyseal fracture were treated with elastic stable intramedullary nailing or hip spica casting between 1998 and 2016. In children aged 4–5 years, the incidence of elastic stable intramedullary nailing increased during the study period from 5.4 per 100,000 persons in 1998 to 8.1 per 100,000 persons in 2016. Conclusions: The length of hospitalization in patients treated with elastic stable intramedullary nailing was shorter and, therefore, the total costs of hospital treatment were lower than in those children treated with hip spica cast. Level of evidence: level III.