2. Bandage versus below‐elbow cast for buckle or similar fractures: participant and intervention characteristics.

Study ID	No. participants Age	Fracture type	Bandage	Cast	Duration of use
Jones 2001	50 Mean: 6.2 years; range 3 to 10 years	Buckle fracture of the distal radius	Wool and crepe bandage	Below‐elbow plaster of Paris cast (back slab?)	3 weeks
Kropman 2010	92 Mean: 10 years; range 4 to 12 years)	Impacted greenstick fracture of the distal radius or ulna Radius injured: 89 Radius and ulna injured: 8	Soft bandage: layer of wool covered with a layer of commercial cotton crepe bandage supported by a sling. After 1 week, a Tubi‐grip was placed for 3 weeks	Below‐elbow backslab plaster cast. After 1 week, the cast was made circular and continued for another 3 weeks	4 weeks
Pountos 2010a	53 (in analysis) Mean: 9 years; range 2 to 16 years)	Undisplaced greenstick and buckle fractures of the distal radius	Double Tubi‐grip	Plaster of Paris cast; below‐elbow implied	4 to 6 weeks (probably)
West 2005	42 < 5 years: 1 5 to 10 years: 26 > 10 years: 12	Buckle fractures of the distal radius	Bandage: a layer of orthopaedic wool was applied. This was then covered with a layer of ordinary commercial cotton crepe bandage, which was held with tape. Participants also seen at 2 and 3 weeks	Plaster cast, these participants were initially placed into a below‐elbow backslab cast. At 1 week, the cast was converted to a full below‐elbow polymer cast	4 weeks (however, all participants in the bandage group had removed their bandage after 2 weeks)

^aPountos 2010 was a three‐arm trial comparing Futuro splint, double Tubi‐grip and plaster cast in 90 children. The numbers allocated to each group were not reported.