FORCE

Torus, or buckle, fractures are the most common type of broken wrist in children, affecting around 50,000 children in the UK each year. These injuries heal quickly and rarely cause problems, but are still treated in different ways — using rigid splints, plaster casts, or soft bandages. Guidance before the study that soft bandages may be as good as casts because they are comfortable, allow early movement, and still provide enough pain relief.
The FORCE study was a randomised controlled trial comparing using a soft bandage with no follow-up versus a rigid splint with routine check-ups. Pain, recovery, and quality of life were tracked for six weeks to see which treatment worked best and was most cost-effective. 
For more information, please see https://force-dissemination.digitrial.com/ 

External Links

Here are relevant links to the study...

• [Main Study Result] 'Immobilisation of torus fractures of the wrist in children (FORCE): a randomised controlled equivalence trial in the UK' published in The Lancet
• [Economic Evaluation] 'Results Discussion Open Access Children's Orthopaedics Cost-effectiveness analysis of soft bandage and immediate discharge versus rigid immobilization in children with distal radius torus fractures' published in The Bone and Joint Journal
• [Full Trial Report] 'Offer of a bandage versus rigid immobilisation in 4- to 15-year-olds with distal radius torus fractures: the FORCE equivalence RCT' published in NIHR Journals Library
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (English UK)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (English non-UK)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (Arabic)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (Greek)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (Hindi)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (Italian)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (Polish)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (Punjabi)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (Romanian)
• FORCE Patient Information Leaflet (Spanish)