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Case Reports
. 2017 Apr 30;12(1):26-28.
eCollection 2017.

Pulled/nursemaid's elbow

Affiliations
Case Reports

Pulled/nursemaid's elbow

M F Mohd Miswan et al. Malays Fam Physician. .

Abstract

Nursemaid's elbow is a radial head subluxation caused by axial traction on the extended arm while the forearm is pronated, allowing for slippage of the radial head. A 2-year-old boy presented with pain, swelling and reduced range of movement of the right elbow for 4 days. The mother noted that the child was moving the right upper limb less often and there was tenderness over the right elbow. X-ray of the right elbow showed subluxation of the elbow joint with no obvious fracture. A trial of conservative management was decided upon and the patient was placed on a right elbow backslab with the right forearm in a supine position. On follow-up, there was no swelling, tenderness or neurological deficit noted. A repeate x-ray revealed normal findings.

Keywords: Nursemaid's elbow; extended arm; pronated forearm; radial head subluxation.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
No obvious bony deformities on x-ray
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Supination–flexion manoeuvre technique

References

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