Children’s bones (especially younger children) are much more elastic than adults. The pelvic bones in children have a lot of cartilage and thick ligaments. This gives them the ability to withstand high-energy forces and trauma without injury.
Pelvic fractures in children occur most often as a result of car accidents. The child may be a passenger in the back seat or a pedestrian who gets hit by a car. The force of the accident through the side, rather than from the front or back is most common with pediatric pelvic fractures. A similar force can occur with sports or skiing injuries.
If the force is large enough to cause a pelvic fracture in a child, then other structures may be damaged as well. The medical team will perform a complete assessment looking for other soft-tissue injury.