Growth Plate Injury Essay

Growth Plate Injuries A growth plate is the part of the bone that is located at the ends of every long bone, near the epiphysis. It’s made of cartilage and it is where the length of the bone increases. Growth plate injuries only are relevant to young ages because when an adolescent's bone stops growing the growth plate hardens and becomes part of the bone itself. When a growth plate it damaged before ossifying, it may cause problems in the child’s growth of that specific bone. Growth plate injuries can happen the same way as any other bone injury, such as falling, sports, bone health, diseases, and more. They are not really obvious to see during an x-ray since the growth plate is made of cartilage but doctors usually use factors such as if the injury is near it or if there is any swelling to identify it. If needed they will usually order CT and/or MRI scans to get a …show more content…
Without proper treatment, the bone has a higher risk of growing irregularly and not match the other bone pair. A common surgery procedure is called reduction to move the bone back in place, screws or wires may be placed to secure the area. After, a cast will hold the bone in the correct place while it heals just like most fractures. Physical therapy should be assigned by a pediatrician after healing to strengthen the bone. Most often if the injury was properly treated, there will be not long term complications but if so then special treatment is in order. If the bone stops growing, one of the treatments could be to as something in the bone to grow such as a metal rod and have frequent check-ins to increase it to even them out until the other growth plate ossifies. If for some reason the injury increased growth, which is possible, and a bony bridge forms align the fracture, doctors will remove the bony bar and add other materials like fat to prevent