10 year old has a fractured 3rd metacarpal

[rstewy]

My nephew fractured his 3rd metacarpal but the fracture is nondisplaced. There is a less than 20 degree angulation (from her notes) and no reduction was required because his hand functions great and ROM was not reduced. He didn't see the ortho until 2 weeks after the injury and she said she would cast it for 3 weeks and brace it for 3 weeks. I said that was great because he had a hockey tryout in 6 weeks. That bothered the ortho and she changed the treatment to 6 weeks casting and 4 weeks bracing. She also gave no consideration for the two weeks it was braced prior to seeing her. She gave no reason for the change except to imply hockey wasn't worth it. That means she is immobilizing the hand for 12 weeks total and my question is does that sound reasonable? The boy is devasted as hockey is his life and he takes it serious. His team was the ontario AAA champs this year and if he has to sit out a year because of this he will lose the most important thing in his life. I'm not advocating putting him at risk but I don't understand why she changed the treatment without a reason. It sounds like and awfully long time for what she described as a minor fracture. What do you think?