Childhood Femur Fracture

Hi there, I havent used this forum before but have found it through using the pregnancy and child ones. My son (7) broke his femur in September 2011 and spent 6 wks in traction in the hospital. he has now been discharged by the consultant and is off his crutches. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how likely he would be to fracture the bone again? i am terrified of it happening again and the temptation is to wrap him up in cotton wool but 7yr old boys are difficult to keep still!! The doctor was not especially helpful with timescales of him restarting physical activities...just that he is to "build up" to them. Does this mean I should judge for myself when he is fit enough? I dont want to cause any problems for him but neither do I want to hold back his recovery by not allowing him to do enough...I'm confused so any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, this would be a difficult question to answer without knowing the relevant details such as the type and the location of the fracture. If your doctor has not yet given him a green signal for increased physical activities, it might be worth waiting for sometime before the bone builds up in strength or starts growing at pace. It would be best to discuss this in detail with his treating orthopedician. You might seek a review at an interval of 6-8 weeks regarding the same.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!