Buddy taping versus splint immobilization for paediatric finger fractures: a randomized controlled trial

99 pediatric patients with an extra-articular finger fracture were randomized to treatment with either buddy taping or splinting for 3 weeks. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if buddy taping was noninferior to splinting for the incidence of secondary displacement, at a noninferiorty margin of a 5% increase. The rates of secondary displacement were 1.9% in the buddy taping group and 6.4% in the splinting group, and the upper limit of 95% confidence interval for the risk difference was below 5%, which suggested noninferiority. In addition, early comfort with buddy taping was higher than that with splinting.