Pediatric Orthopaedics

During our pediatric orthopaedics rotation, you’ll train in a regional center for specialized children’s health care, giving you experience diagnosing and managing pediatric orthopaedics and pediatric trauma.

We’ll teach you about the etiology, pathophysiology, pathoanatomy and treatment options for a variety of common conditions.

Our training will prepare you to describe treatment plans for common conditions; you’ll feel comfortable discussing anticipated outcomes and common complications. You can also expect to learn about the emotional and psychological aspects of injury and illness in children.

The experience you’ll gain in our pediatric orthopaedics rotation will prepare you to discuss the assessment, investigation and early management of:

• spinal deformity
• back pain in children
• common bone tumors such as osteochondroma, unicameral bone cyst, fibrous dysplasia
• infectious processes such as septic arthritis and osteomyelitis
• torsional deformities and limb length discrepancy

You’ll become acquainted with preoperative preparation of pediatric patients and their families; we’ll guide you through the process of handling consent and discussing risks and complications.

You’ll also learn about postoperative problems such as analgesia, anemia, ileus, pneumonia, swelling and cast problems.

We’ll familiarize you with the fundamentals of pediatric orthopaedics. Our curriculum enables you to develop technical skills, including:

• diagnosing and managing compartment syndrome
• aspirating and injecting joints
• skeletal and skin traction, including approaches such as Bryant’s traction and Russell’s traction
• standard surgical approaches for the spine, elbow, hip, knee and ankle
• appropriate handling of soft tissues and wound closure
• bone graft harvesting from the iliac crest
• a variety of casting techniques
• tendon lengthening
• diagnostic arthroscopy of the knee
• pinning of slipped capital femoral epiphysis
• open reduction, closed reduction and pinning for elbow fractures 

You’ll gain the knowledge necessary to describe treatment plans for more complex pediatric orthopaedic conditions.

We’ll help you increase your ability to evaluate and treat conditions seen in the office setting, including:

• torsional and angular deformities of the lower extremities and feet
• developmental dysplasia of the hip and its variants
• all common fractures

You will also gain the knowledge you need to evaluate and propose treatment plans for patients with neuromuscular disorders — such as cerebral palsy, myelodysplasia and  muscular dystrophy — and manage most complications.

Our faculty will help strengthen your technical skills, including: 

• preoperative preparation 
• techniques for percutaneous pinning
• open reduction internal fixation techniques for fractures commonly seen in children and adolescents
• drainage to treat septic arthritis of the hip and knee
• closed reduction developmental dysplasia of the hip, arthrogram of hip
• knowledge of operating room equipment
• manipulation and casting of talipes equinovarus and other foot disorders
• principles of clubfoot release and congenital vertical talus
• tumor biopsy principles and clinical staging of neoplasms
• percutaneous screw fixation of slipped capital femoral epiphysis
• principles of planning osteotomies around the hip
• closed, flexible intramedullary nailing of the femur
• management of open fractures, especially of the tibia
• decompression for compartment syndrome in the leg and forearm
• arthroscopic techniques, including loose body removal, partial meniscectomy, lateral release

Third-year residents: 20 weeks

Fourth-year residents: 10 weeks

You will learn to treat children and adolescents with common problems — congenital and developmental — affecting the spine and extremities. 

You may be exposed to injuries usually seen only in pediatric patients, such as Tillaux and triplane fractures.