20 November 2025, at the Sytenko Institute of Spine and Joint Pathology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, a scheduled workshop was held in a mixed offline and online format: “Treatment of Elbow Fractures in Children”, attended by around 90 participants. The workshop, organised within the framework of the “Traumatologist’s Day”, was held by the Kharkiv Regional Branch of the Ukrainian Association of Orthopaedic Traumatologists (UAOT) and the Sytenko Institute of Spine and Joint Pathology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.

The opening remarks were delivered by the Head of the Branch, Prof. Volodymyr Akymovych Filipenko, who highlighted the new format of today’s meeting — a workshop — and emphasised that during wartime the main focus has been on combat-related injuries. However, we must remember that orthopaedics is, above all, about helping children. The topic of today’s workshop is a long-standing issue that has been studied at our Institute for more than 50 years. Today, we have extensive experience in treating these fractures, yet unfortunately the outcomes are not always fully consistent with the needs of recovering children. Therefore, familiarising the audience with our lecturers’ developments is extremely valuable, especially for specialists dealing with such injuries.

In the first lecture, Prof. Oleksii Korniliiovych Popsuishapka of the Department of Traumatology and Orthopaedics, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Educational and Research Institute for Postgraduate Education of Kharkiv National Medical University, highlighted the diagnostic features of elbow fractures in children. He drew attention to common radiographic errors and explained how to avoid projection distortions to achieve the most accurate diagnosis. He provided a detailed overview of the key principles in treating elbow fractures in children, including: supracondylar fractures; epiphysiolysis and osteoepiphysiolysis of the humeral head and trochlea; medial epicondyle avulsion; epiphysiolysis and osteoepiphysiolysis of the radial head and neck, and others. He recalled historical approaches involving skeletal traction, mentioned outstanding teachers (B.L. Dovhan, V.M. Kozytskyi, O.M. Shvedov), explained how the decision to study these issues arose, presented illustrative clinical cases and interesting facts related to unsuccessful closed reductions, and shared video materials. Using an upper limb model, he explained how to make the challenging decision between conservative and surgical treatment.

The practical session was conducted by Serhii Borysovych Dovhan, Head of the Paediatric Traumatology Department of the Kharkiv Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital, and Prof. Oleksii Korniliiovych Popsuishapka. Serhii Borysovych noted that the purpose of presenting their treatment techniques was to pass on the accumulated experience gained since the establishment of the paediatric trauma department (almost 65 years). He spoke about modern surgical methods used at his department for fractures of the elbow with significant displacement, as well as the specifics of communication with children for collecting medical history and establishing the diagnosis. The lecturer acknowledged the contribution of mentors with whom they worked and treated fractures using conservative closed methods (A.A. Korzh, M.S. Bondarenko, V.M. Kozytskyi, B.L. Dovhan), which are still applied today. Acquired competencies included: improving diagnostic accuracy for elbow injuries in children; selecting the most rational method of reduction and fixation; mastering the technique of closed reduction for supracondylar fractures and radial head fractures; mastering the technique of open reduction and fixation for supracondylar fractures and others.

In the second lecture, Hryhorii Leonidovych Boskin, Head of the Orthopaedic and Traumatology Department of the Poltava City Children’s Clinical Hospital, presented his experience in treating distal humerus fractures in children — these injuries rank second after forearm fractures, and annually around 75–85 children are treated for supracondylar fractures (approximately two children per week). He noted that in his practice, he and his colleagues rely on authoritative publications in paediatric traumatology by such authors as M.S. Bondarenko, O.A. Korzh, K.S. Ormantaiev, and R.F. Markov. In their work, priority is given to closed reduction followed by fixation with Kirschner wires (1.5 mm and 2 mm), and nearly 75% of patients with this condition receive such treatment. He also described cases using plaster splints and Blount bandage fixation, as well as cases requiring open reduction, outlining the specifics of the technique and surgical approach.