Current Concepts in Pediatric Orthopedics
The term orthopedics has been derived from the French word ‘orthopedie’, which was coined by the French physician Nicolas Andry de Bois-Regard and literally means ‘straight child’. In 1742, Andry published his book titled ‘L’orthopédie ou l’art de prévenir et corriger dans les enfants les difformités du corp’, which was later translated into English as ‘Orthopaedia or the art of correcting and preventing deformities in children’ and became an immediate success [1]. Over time, orthopedics has seen giant leaps in all areas, and many subspecialties have emerged, including traumatology, spinal disorders, arthroplasty, arthroscopy, hand surgery as well as foot and ankle disorders. However, management of orthopedic disorders in the pediatric age group continues to pose a significant challenge. It has been often quoted that children are not small adults, and although children can be afflicted by the same spectrum of disorders as adults, the principles of management and outcomes are very different from adults. Perhaps the biggest challenge in pediatric orthopedics is to obtain a good long-term outcome.