Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32099294›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma

Effects of age and rate of twist on torsional fracture patterns in infant porcine femora.

Patrick E Vaughan, Feng Wei, Roger C Haut

Erratum issuedAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Patrick E VaughanOrthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratories, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
Feng WeiOrthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratories, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
Roger C HautOrthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratories, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveLong bone fractures are a common injury in the pediatric population. Differentiation between abusive, or non-accidental trauma, and accidental trauma in children remains challenging for forensic practitioners. A recent clinical-based study was able to separate pediatric abusive from accidental trauma based on femoral fracture pattern using the ratio of fracture length over bone diameter (fracture ratio), as determined from radiographic analysis of this fractured bone. The forensic literature indicates more cases of abuse in younger pediatric victims than accidental cases. While this was the case in the clinical study, the effect was not shown to be statistically significant. Furthermore, while speed of trauma was not considered in the clinical study, a laboratory study with an immature bovine model indicates rotational speed influences fracture pattern, but specimen age was not varied in that study. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to use immature porcine femora to investigate the effects of age and rate of twist on a modified version of this fracture ratio parameter.

methodsFifteen pairs of porcine femora with various ages were twisted until observable failure using a custom-built torsional fixture. The left femur of each pair was twisted to failure at a rate of 3 deg/s, while the right femur was twisted at a rate of 90 deg/s. The torque and angle of rotation were recorded at a sampling rate of 10,000 Hz. Fracture ratio was defined as total fracture length divided by bone diameter.

resultsFracture ratio increased with specimen age, with specimens under the low rate of twist yielding a consistently lower fracture ratio than those from specimens under the high rate of twist. The results showed that both specimen age and rate of twist were significant factors influencing fracture ratio.

conclusionThe determination of abusive from accidental trauma in criminal cases, based on the pattern of long bone fracture alone, may need to include additional data on the specific age of the pediatric victim and the potential speed of the traumatic event.

Indexed as

Animal modelForensic biomechanicsFracture ratioLong bonePediatric abuseSpiral fracture

Identifiers

PMID32099294
PMCPMC7026619

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.