Overview

Pediatric orthopedics focuses on musculoskeletal conditions in infants, children, and adolescents, addressing unique growth plate physiology, deformities, and injuries.

About Pediatric Orthopedics

Pediatric orthopedics specializes in diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal conditions in infants, children, and adolescents. From walking milestones to adolescent sports, timely intervention can harness growth potential, correct deformities, and restore function for lifelong mobility.

What Is Pediatric Orthopedics?

Pediatric orthopedics is the medical and surgical specialty devoted to diagnosing, treating, and preventing musculoskeletal disorders in infants, children, and adolescents, recognizing that growing bones, joints, and soft tissues behave fundamentally differently than adult anatomy. By focusing on the unique physiology of growth plates (physes), which drive bone lengthening and shape, pediatric orthopedists manage congenital conditions like developmental dysplasia of the hip and clubfoot, as well as developmental disorders such as Blount disease and slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Trauma care encompasses children’s fractures—greenstick, buckle, and physeal injuries—where rapid healing and remodeling potential can correct mild deformities without surgery, yet certain injuries demand precise reduction or fixation to prevent growth disturbances. Beyond fractures, the specialty addresses infections (osteomyelitis, septic arthritis), inflammatory arthropathies like juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and benign or malignant bone tumors. Diagnostic evaluation blends careful history and physical exam—gait analysis, alignment checks, limb-length measurement—with age-appropriate imaging, including plain radiographs, ultrasound hip screening, and advanced MRI or CT when needed. Treatment strategies range from nonoperative (casting, serial bracing, physiotherapy) and minimally invasive techniques (guided growth with tension-band plates) to complex osteotomies and internal or external fixation. Multidisciplinary collaboration with physical therapists, orthotists, geneticists, and pain specialists ensures interventions harness children’s remarkable growth and healing capacity, optimizing long-term mobility and quality of life.

Reasons to See a Pediatric Orthopedist

Children should be evaluated by a pediatric orthopedist whenever musculoskeletal concerns exceed routine pediatric care or interfere with development and quality of life. Early referral is crucial for congenital anomalies such as clubfoot, hip dysplasia, limb-length discrepancies, or chest wall deformities (pectus excavatum/carinatum) to maximize correction during growth. Toddlers with persistent in-toeing, out-toeing, or bowlegs that fail to normalize by age two to three warrant specialist assessment to distinguish benign variations from conditions like Blount disease or torsional abnormalities. School-age children who limp, experience recurrent knee or heel pain (growing pains notwithstanding), or show limited range of motion in joints may have underlying orthopedic disorders—slipped capital femoral epiphysis, osteochondritis dissecans, or juvenile idiopathic arthritis—that require imaging and targeted management. Acute fractures with visible deformity, inability to bear weight, or signs of neurovascular compromise demand prompt reduction and stabilization. Adolescent athletes with stress fractures, chronic tendonitis, or anterior knee pain benefit from growth-plate–sparing interventions to prevent long-term sequelae. Back pain lasting more than a few weeks, especially with neurologic symptoms like numbness or weakness, also calls for specialized evaluation. Finally, children recovering from cancer or chronic illnesses often need orthotic support, gait training, and rehabilitation coordination with orthotists and physical therapists. By consulting a pediatric orthopedist early, families can ensure precise diagnosis, leverage growth for optimal outcomes, and minimize lifelong disability.

Pediatric Orthopedics Process

What diseases do pediatric orthopedists treat?

Pediatric orthopedics addresses a wide spectrum of musculoskeletal conditions unique to the growing child, ranging from congenital deformities and developmental disorders to trauma, infection, inflammatory disease, and tumors. At birth, specialists correct conditions such as developmental dysplasia of the hip, clubfoot, and congenital limb deficiencies, using harnesses, serial casting, or early surgery to guide proper bone and joint formation. During the toddler and school-age years, children may present with torsional variations—intoeing, out-toeing, bowlegs—or Blount disease, which require bracing or osteotomy to prevent permanent angular deformity. Slipped capital femoral epiphysis in adolescents manifests as hip pain and altered gait, demanding urgent pinning to preserve joint function. Fragility syndromes like osteogenesis imperfecta and rickets challenge bone strength and metabolism, managed through medical therapy, surgical rodding, and nutritional support. Acute injuries—greenstick, buckle, and physeal fractures—exploit children’s rapid remodeling capacity but sometimes need precise reduction and fixation to protect growth plates. Infectious threats such as osteomyelitis and septic arthritis call for prompt antibiotic therapy and surgical drainage, while juvenile idiopathic arthritis and other inflammatory arthropathies require immunomodulatory treatment. Bone tumors—benign cysts, osteosarcoma, and Ewing sarcoma—invoke multidisciplinary care combining chemotherapy, limb-sparing resection, and reconstruction. Across all these diseases, pediatric orthopedists leverage growth modulation techniques, advanced imaging, and collaboration with geneticists, rehabilitation therapists, and orthotists to optimize long-term mobility and quality of life.

What treatments/therapies are used in pediatric orthopedics?

Pediatric orthopedic treatments harness children’s unique growth and healing capacities through tailored nonoperative, minimally invasive, and surgical strategies. Nonoperative care often serves as first-line therapy: serial Ponseti casting and Achilles tenotomy correct idiopathic clubfoot, Pavlik harnessing guides hip reduction in developmental dysplasia, and customized braces (Boston or Milwaukee) manage early scoliosis or tibia vara. Physical and occupational therapy optimize muscle strength, joint range, gait training, and proprioception, while orthotic devices—ankle–foot orthoses (AFOs), dynamic knee braces, and shoe inserts—support alignment and function. Closed reduction with percutaneous pinning treats supracondylar humerus fractures; traction and spica casting address femur fractures in toddlers. Growth modulation techniques, such as hemiepiphysiodesis with tension-band plating, gradually correct angular deformities like genu valgum. When deformities or injuries demand surgery, osteotomies realign long bones, and internal fixation—plates, screws, flexible intramedullary rods—stabilizes fractures or fragile bones in osteogenesis imperfecta. External fixation and the Ilizarov method enable limb lengthening or complex reconstructions. Arthroscopic interventions address joint pathology with minimal soft-tissue disruption. Medical adjuncts include bisphosphonates for bone fragility, vitamin D and calcium for rickets, antibiotics and surgical drainage for osteomyelitis, and immunomodulators for juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Emerging approaches—growth factor–enhanced bone grafts, tissue-engineered cartilage scaffolds, and gene therapies for skeletal dysplasias—promise future advances.

Pediatric Orthopedics in Iran

Equipped hospitals, and advanced specialized centers with experienced doctors and specialists are available in all medical treatment areas in Iran. Also, good hotels and entertainment centers have made Iran an appropriate choice for patients who need Pediatric Orthopedics. 

Pediatric Orthopedics treatment cost in Iran

In Iran, pediatric orthopedic care delivers high‐quality diagnostics and treatments at roughly 70–90% lower costs than in North America and Europe. The cost of pediatric orthopedic treatment in Iran may vary depending on your specific needs, from consultation, casting, bracing to correct early scoliosis or tibia vara, imaging, osteotomies, to spinal fusion for scoliosis.