Caesarean delivery brings risk of fractures & birth palsy for newborn: study

Obstetric fractures usually occur after complicated births and are sent to paediatric orthopaedics for treatment and follow-up. Clavicle fractures represent the most common orthopaedic birth injury, involving approximately 0.2 to 3.5% of births.

The authors chose to do a retrospective study to determine possible risk factors for this type of injury that may manifest in either delivery. The aim was to deepen the knowledge in order to have a better prediction and a better management of this condition.

The study was conducted with patients presented to Paediatric Orthopaedic ward of "Grigore Alexandrescu" Children's Emergency Clinical Hospital of Bucharest, Romania.

The following variables were analyzed in search for statistical significance: maternal age, height, antepartum weight, weight gain after pregnancy, urban/rural environment, parity, gestity, place of birth, public/private hospital, type of delivery, gestational age, presentation, shoulder dystocia, type of fracture, birth weight, gender, duration of labour and expulsion, APGAR score, and complicated/ straightforward fracture. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant, with a corresponding confidence level of 95%.