Monteggia fractures-dislocations in children: retrospective study of 40 cases in the Department of Orthopedics, Habib Bourguiba University Hospital in Sfax, Tunisia

Monteggia's fracture-dislocation is rare in pediatric traumatology and pose a problem of elapsed time before management and of prognosis. The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiological features of this fracture and to assess functional and anatomical results. We report a series of 40 cases of Monteggia fracture in children whose data were collected and treated at the Habib Bourguiba University Hospital Center in Sfax over a period of 17 years, from January 1998 to January 2015. We listed the epidemiological data of our population as well as the types of fracture dislocations according to the Bado radiological classifications. For functional assessment, the choice of treatment was based on the type of fracture. P. Rigault's score and Kim's score were used. The average age of our study population was 8 years; 20 cases of fractures were classified as Bado I and 12 cases as Bado III. The time elapsed before treatment was less than 24 hours in 82% of cases. Surgical treatment was performed in 28 cases, and functional results were judged to be good in 30 cases. Our results were satisfactory due to the short time elapsed before patient management compared to literature data.