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Organized sports and classroom learning were canceled in the spring, so there was a 60% decrease in related arm and leg fractures according to research from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Researchers found a concurrent increase in injuries from trampolines and bikes.
That makes sense, according to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Apurva Shah.
"The overall rate of musculoskeletal injuries, particularly fractures, has come down substantially, but what we found was interesting," Shah said. "The proportion of injuries that were occurring in kids at home was actually on the rise."
Researchers were worried that families were putting off care, afraid of contracting COVID-19 in the emergency department or doctor's office. Shah says they found that wasn't the case.
Instead, whenever possible, physicians have been using telemedicine and relying on treatments that help reduce the number of in-person visits.
"Sometimes kids will have a buckle fracture, which is a relatively minor fracture, most commonly of the wrist, which really doesn't necessarily need a cast. So, for a lot of those kids, we've been putting on either a removable cast or a Velcro brace," Shah said. "It really eliminates or obviates the need for a return visit to the office to have the cast removed."
Shah said he expects such changes to children's medical treatment to continue as more families come to rely on telemedicine.