SCIENCE

The SCIENCE Study is trying to improve the treatment of children who have a broken bone in the elbow called an ‘epicondyle fracture’. Half of doctors advise to rest the elbow in a cast or splint and allow it to heal by itself, whilst the other half advise surgery to fix the bone. Despite the number of these injuries, doctors are not sure whether one way of treating them is better than the other because it has never been researched.

This study will compare the two commonly used treatments:

1. Resting the arm in plaster cast for up to 4 weeks, to allow it to heal by itself.

2. Surgery to fix the bone, usually with a screw and resting the arm in a splint or cast for up to 4 weeks

Patients will be eligible for this study if: 

• There is radiographic evidence of a displaced medial epicondyle fracture of the Humerus, with fracture displacement determined by the surgeon as per their usual clinical practice. 

• They are aged between 7 and 15 years old inclusive.

Patients will be excluded from participation in this study if: 

• The injury is more than two weeks old. 

• There is incarceration of the medial epicondyle fragment within the elbow joint. 

• The injury is part of a complex elbow fracture (i.e. fracture extending into the joint). 

• There are other fractured bones elsewhere in the body, in addition to the elbow injury. 

• The elbow, if dislocated, is unable to be realigned into a satisfactory position in the emergency department. 

• There is evidence that the patient and/or parent/guardian would be unable to adhere to trial procedures or complete follow-up, such as insufficient English language comprehension, developmental delay or a developmental abnormality or no access by parents to the internet.