Breaking from Tradition: Simple Casting for Children with Distal Radial Fractures

Increased questioning about the necessity of open surgical reduction of displaced distal radial fractures, the most common fracture in young children, led to this randomized trial in the UK. Investigators randomized 750 children 4 to 10 years of age (median, 8 years) with severely displaced distal radial fractures (completely displaced in nearly half of participants) to casting without overt reduction (Figure 1), or to surgical reduction with fixation as needed.