Broken bones are common injuries, and many children will experience at least one fracture (break) in their growing years. How they happen—and how we treat them—can be very different in children than adults.
Because a child’s bone is growing rapidly, it has more flexibility and may not break all of the way across the bone or into pieces. This type of break is commonly referred to as a greenstick fracture.
A greenstick fracture is one of multiple types of fractures seen in children. Greenstick fractures may occur in adults but are very uncommon.
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Causes and Features of a Greenstick Fracture
The term “greenstick fracture” is used because it evokes the image of a young, green branch that bends, and even splinters, but doesn’t break into pieces when bent. Only one side of the bone is broken while the other side is merely bent.
While greenstick fractures mostly occur in infants or toddlers, they can sometimes occur in children during their early adolescent and pre-adolescent years.
Greenstick fractures commonly occur after falling but may also occur during motor vehicle collisions, sports, direct impacts, or non-accidental trauma. The fracture pattern often suggests a limb’s bending or contortion.
A greenstick fracture can be very painful. Older children will typically clutch the injured limb or body part to protect it. Localized bruising and swelling may also occur.
Treatment of Greenstick Fractures
If the fractured bone is not badly bent out of alignment, a splint or cast may be all that is needed to treat the break. A growing skeleton has the remarkable ability to remodel bone so that fractured bones can often realign themselves over time with little intervention.
The healing of a greenstick fracture is dependent on a number of factors, including the age of the child, the severity of the break, and the location of the break. By and large, the younger the child is, the easier the recovery will be.
In some cases, the greenstick fracture will need to be bent back and repositioned in a procedure called afracture reduction. An anesthetic may be needed as the doctor manually realigns the child’s bone into the correct position.
3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wolfe, J.A., Wolfe, H., Banaag, A.Early Pediatric Fractures in a Universally Insured Population within the United States.BMC Pediatr19, 343 (2019) doi:10.1186/s12887-019-1725-yAtanelov Z, Bentley TP.Greenstick Fracture. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Pountos I, Clegg J, Siddiqui A.Diagnosis and treatment of greenstick and torus fractures of the distal radius in children: a prospective randomised single blind study.J Child Orthop. 2010;4(4):321–326. doi:10.1007/s11832-010-0269-3Additional ReadingPountos I, Clegg J, Siddiqui A.Diagnosis and treatment ofgreenstick and torus fractures of the distal radius in children: a prospective randomised single blind study. J Child Orthop. 2010;4(4):321-326.doi:10.1007/s11832-010-0269-3
3 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wolfe, J.A., Wolfe, H., Banaag, A.Early Pediatric Fractures in a Universally Insured Population within the United States.BMC Pediatr19, 343 (2019) doi:10.1186/s12887-019-1725-yAtanelov Z, Bentley TP.Greenstick Fracture. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Pountos I, Clegg J, Siddiqui A.Diagnosis and treatment of greenstick and torus fractures of the distal radius in children: a prospective randomised single blind study.J Child Orthop. 2010;4(4):321–326. doi:10.1007/s11832-010-0269-3Additional ReadingPountos I, Clegg J, Siddiqui A.Diagnosis and treatment ofgreenstick and torus fractures of the distal radius in children: a prospective randomised single blind study. J Child Orthop. 2010;4(4):321-326.doi:10.1007/s11832-010-0269-3
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Wolfe, J.A., Wolfe, H., Banaag, A.Early Pediatric Fractures in a Universally Insured Population within the United States.BMC Pediatr19, 343 (2019) doi:10.1186/s12887-019-1725-yAtanelov Z, Bentley TP.Greenstick Fracture. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Pountos I, Clegg J, Siddiqui A.Diagnosis and treatment of greenstick and torus fractures of the distal radius in children: a prospective randomised single blind study.J Child Orthop. 2010;4(4):321–326. doi:10.1007/s11832-010-0269-3
Wolfe, J.A., Wolfe, H., Banaag, A.Early Pediatric Fractures in a Universally Insured Population within the United States.BMC Pediatr19, 343 (2019) doi:10.1186/s12887-019-1725-y
Atanelov Z, Bentley TP.Greenstick Fracture. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Pountos I, Clegg J, Siddiqui A.Diagnosis and treatment of greenstick and torus fractures of the distal radius in children: a prospective randomised single blind study.J Child Orthop. 2010;4(4):321–326. doi:10.1007/s11832-010-0269-3
Pountos I, Clegg J, Siddiqui A.Diagnosis and treatment ofgreenstick and torus fractures of the distal radius in children: a prospective randomised single blind study. J Child Orthop. 2010;4(4):321-326.doi:10.1007/s11832-010-0269-3
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