Obese adolescents have higher risk for severe lower extremity fractures after falling

IntroductionReports vary on the impact of obesity on the incidence of lower extremity fractures after a fall. We hypothesized that obese adolescents (OA) presenting after a fall have a higher risk of any and severe lower extremity fractures compared to non-OAs.MethodsA national database was queried for adolescents (12-17 years old) after a fall. Primary outcome included lower extremity fracture. Adolescents with a body mass index (BMI) & GE; 30 (OA) were compared to adolescents with a BMI < 30 (non-OA).ResultsFrom 20,264 falls, 2523 (12.5%) included OAs. Compared to non-OAs, the rate of any lower extremity fracture was higher for OAs (51.5% vs. 30.7%, p < 0.001). This remained true for lower extremity fractures at all locations (all p < 0.05). After adjusting for sex and age, associated risk for any lower extremity fracture (OR 2.41, CI 2.22-2.63, p < 0.001) and severe lower extremity fracture (OR 1.31, CI 1.15-1.49, p < 0.001) was higher for OAs. This remained true in subset analyses of ground level falls (GLF) and falls from height (FFH) (all p < 0.05).ConclusionsObesity significantly impacts adolescents' risk of all types of lower extremity fractures after FFH or GLF. Hence, providers should have heightened awareness for possible lower extremity fractures in OAs.