Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2020 Dec 30;91(14-S):e2020030.
doi: 10.23750/abm.v91i14-S.8507.

Injury of the brachial artery accompanying simple closed elbow dislocation: a case report

Claudio Goretti  1 , Carlotta Pari  2 , Agnese Puzzo  3 , Yousef Rizqallah  4 , Maria Giovanna Bonanno  5 , Alberto Belluati  6
Affiliations
Case Reports

Injury of the brachial artery accompanying simple closed elbow dislocation: a case report

Claudio Goretti et al. Acta Biomed. .

Abstract

Background: Elbow dislocation is the second common dislocation in adults, after the shoulder. The anatomical proximity to the joint of the brachial artery could lead to concomitant vascular injuries, even if their occurrence remains very rare.

Method: It is reported the case of a right-hand-dominant 42-year-old man who sustained a simple closed posterior elbow dislocation of his left elbow, associated to a complete brachial artery rupture. He urgently underwent the reduction of the joint dislocation and an artery-repairing surgical procedure using a graft from ipsilateral saphenous vein.

Results: The full functional capacity of the elbow was obtained.

Conclusions: The abundance of the brachial artery collateral network may hide the presence of a vascular injury, potentially associated to a closed elbow dislocation. Therefore, a high index of suspicious should be maintained. The Emergency Team plays a crucial role in its early diagnosis, which is essential to avoid irreversible ischemia related damages. A prompt reduction of the joint dislocation and the vascular injury surgical repair are required. Regarding the treatment of the concomitant collateral ligaments and capsular injuries, the indication to proceed to the simultaneous ligaments reconstruction is still controversial in literature.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Patient’s x-rays at his arrival at Emergency Department revealed a closed posterior dislocation of the left elbow.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Both the proximal and the distal extremities of the brachial artery appeared to be torn and bruised (fig. 2-a). The 5-centimetre interposition graft performed using the ipsilateral saphenous vein (fig. 2-b).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Left elbow A-ROM at the 2-year follow-up.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Stoneback JW, Owens BD, Sykes J, Athwal GS, Pointer L, Wolf JM. Incidence of elbow dislocation in the United States population. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2012 Feb 1;94(3):240–5. - PubMed
    1. Yang NP, Chen HC, Phan DV, Yu IL, Lee YH, Chan CL, et al. Epidemiological survey of orthopedic joint dislocated based on nation wide insurance data in Taiwan, 2000-2005. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2011 Nov 5;12:253. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cohen MS, Hastings II. Acute elbow dislocation: evaluation and management. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 1998 Jan-Feb;6(1):15–23. - PubMed
    1. Hildebrand KA, Patterson SD, King GJW. Acute elbow dislocation: Simple and complex. Orthop Clin North Am. 1999 Jan;30(1):63–79. - PubMed
    1. Mayne IP, Wasserstein D, Modi CS, Henry PD, Mahomed N, Veillette C. The epidemiology of closed reduction for simple elbow dislocations and the incidence of early subsequent open reduction. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2015 Jan;24(1):83–90. - PubMed

Publication types