M1-L15: Ax LL Ortho - Normal Variants Flashcards
(110 cards)
What are the 2 considerations for the paediatric patient?
- Early musculoskeletal growth & development
- Guide to assessment components
What are the 3 practitioner guides to common paediatric orthpaedic conditions?
- Torsional variations
- Normal and minor variants in the feet
- Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip
What are 7 factors that affect musculo-skeletal development in children?
- Genetics
- major morphological abnormalities occur in the embryonic period (K2-8)
- Nutrition
- If they do not have enough nutrition during pregnancy
- Drugs
- Hormones
- Relaxin (in the mother –> as a result in baby) –> Contraindication for manipulations
- Mechanical forces
- Prenatal / postnatal
- Positioning & movement
- Injury / trauma
- Intervention
- Surgery / splinting / casting / restraints
- Activity
Need to stretch out –> from flexed position to extended position
What are the 2 mechanical forces in children?
- Create or correct an abnormal biologic situation in a growing organism
- Subject to the stretch creep principle
What are the 2 types mechanical forces in children?
- Prenatal Forces
- Postnatal Forces
What are 3 pre-natal forces?
- abnormal maternal structures / intra-uterine space occupying bodies e.g. multiple foetuses
- Can have a problem with twins, triples..etc where there is not enough space
- oligohydraminos - reduced amount amniotic fluid
- Unable to move around as much
- maternal abnormal tone
- Mum can not stretch out –> less room (eg. immobile- in a wheelchair)
What are 2 post-natal forces?
- Habitual positioning (sleeping and sitting)
- Sleeping
- Baby should sleep in supine (to avoid SIDS- sudden infant death syndrome)
- Baby’s will turn head –> baby will get a flat spot (at the back of the head) - parent might not see it sometimes
- Sitting
- W sitting (not natural)
- Can cause abnormal forces in the child’s join
- Sleeping
- Abnormal loading - muscle imbalance
- Abnormal bony development
- Eg. if not cruising well, pull up to stand
- Can cause abnormal femur development
- Abnormal bony development
What are the 4 types of differential diagnosis?
- Muscular
- Bony
- Neurological
- Other
What are 2 types of muscular conditions in children?
- Talipes
- Sprain, strain, tear
What are 5 types of bony conditions in children?
- Planar & torsional variations
- Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis
- Osteochondrodysplasias
- Abnormal development, growth of the bone and cartilage (eg. achondroplasia- short limbed dwarfism)
- Fractures
- (eg. jungle gym or trampolines) –> most common fracture activity. Arms and wrist are most common to fractures in children
- Limb deficiency
- Born without part of body (not just traumatic incident)
What is a type of neurological conditions in children?
Unbalanced tone, e.g. CP
What are 2 types other conditions in children?
- Perthe’s Disease - avascular necrosis of capital femoral epiphysis
- Inflammatory e.g. Osteomyelitis
What specific orthopaedic factors can impact development of movement?
- Activity levels
- BMD
- X-ray result s
- Birth history
- Weight
- Length discrepancy
- Gait
- Growth
- Postures
- Habits
- Beighton score
- Observation
- Height (or of relatives)
- Cultural background
- Squatting in Asian population
- Joint position sense
- Esp. for those with hypermobility
What is an example of observation in photograph?

What are 3 characteristics of growth rate?
- not linear
- spurts occur in different tissues at different times
- Girls end up stabilising/plateauing in growth early than boys do

What are the 6 age standardised measures of growth?
- height
- weight
- head circumference
- skeletal ossification
- growth plate fusion
- cellular age
Why is height not always a suitable age standardised measure of growth?
Not very useful for certain conditions (unless they have specific chart of the condition- do not use the normative chart)
Why is head circumference an important age standardised measure of growth? What sorts of children have a large head circumference?
Why? What shorts of children will have large circumference? –> CFS build up called hydrocephalus –> need to see a paediatrician –> which is common in spinal bifida (flaccid paralysis and hydrocephalus) or short limbed dwarfism (relative to body)
Why is growth plate fusion an important age standardised measure of growth? What is the complication?
Fracture through the growth plate
- Stops growing on one side of plate and keeps growing on other side
- Asymmetrical bony development
What are the 3 changes in shape and posture?
- Proportional changes
- Genetic characteristics
- Biomechanical implications
What are 3 characteristics of proportional changes in shape and posture?
- head v body size in and infant v adult
- limb length, trunk length
- growth of organs and soft tissues

Why does it take a a while for a baby to lift their head?
Takes a while for babies to lift up their own head
Why does head need to be quite large when born?
- Need a decent sized brain when you are born
- Once an adult (will be 1/9 of body)
- In dwarfism –> Will have a ratio that is more similar to a child
What is a genetic characteristic in changes in shape and posture?
physique and overall body structure
- Body weight –> related to activity levels and sugar levels




























