Community-acquired bone and joint infections in children: a 1-year prospective epidemiological study.

Background: The incidence of childhood bone and joint infections (BJIs) is not well known, but is useful for identifying epidemiological differences and improving practice.

Objective: To determine the incidence of BJI in previously well children and describe their clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics.

Design: A multicentre, population-based, prospective study performed from July 2008 through June 2009.

Prevalence and clinical significance of occult fractures in children with radiograph-negative acute ankle injury. A meta-analysis.

Background And Purpose: Plain radiographs may fail to reveal an ankle fracture in children because of developmental and anatomical characteristics. In this systematic review and meta- analysis, we estimated the prevalence of occult fractures in children with acute ankle injuries and clinical suspicion of fracture, and assessed the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound (US) in the detection of occult fractures.

Methods: We searched the literature and included studies reporting the prevalence of occult fractures in children with acute ankle injuries and clinical suspicion of fracture.