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. 2021 Jul 13:21:101484.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcot.2021.101484. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Dislocations of the elbow - An instructional review

Ines Lh Reichert  1 , Santhosh Ganeshamoorthy  2 , Saurabh Aggarwal  3 , Anand Arya  1 , Joydeep Sinha  1
Affiliations

Dislocations of the elbow - An instructional review

Ines Lh Reichert et al. J Clin Orthop Trauma. .

Erratum in

  • Erratum regarding previously published articles.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] J Clin Orthop Trauma. 2021 Jul 30;20:101539. doi: 10.1016/j.jcot.2021.101539. eCollection 2021 Sep. J Clin Orthop Trauma. 2021. PMID: 34405084 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Dislocations of the elbow require recognition of the injury pattern followed by adequate treatment to allow early mobilisation. Not every injury requires surgery but if surgery is undertaken all structures providing stability should be addressed, including fractures, medial and lateral ligament insertion and the radial head. The current concepts of biomechanical modelling are addressed and surgical implications discussed.

Keywords: Elbow clinical assessment; Elbow instability; Elbow surgery; Elbow trauma; Elbow trauma imaging; Joint dislocation.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Anatomy of elbow stabilisers (after Karbach and Elfar65).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Illustration of mechanism resulting in a terrible triad injury.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
3a, 3b, 3c: Coronoid fracture Type 2 (anteromedial facet) treated with open reduction and internal fixation.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Simple posterior dislocation of the elbow without fracture.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Simple medial dislocation of elbow with high risk of persistent instability.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
6 a, 6b: Ligament reconstruction following simple dislocation with complete ligament disruption (Stage 3).
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
7a, 7b: Monteggia fracture-dislocation treated with open reduction and internal fixation.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Illustration of ‘column theory’ – from Watts et al.
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
The ‘drop sign’ after closed reduction indicating instability.
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
10a, 10b, 10c: Radiographic assessment (10a, b) of terrible triad injury followed by CT (10c).
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
MRI following postero-lateral elbow dislocation with disruption of the LCLC.
Fig. 12
Fig. 12
Open reduction and internal fixation of radial head fracture.
Fig. 13
Fig. 13
Prosthetic replacement of radial head after fracture.
Fig. 14
Fig. 14
Trans-olecranon fracture dislocation of elbow requiring plate fixation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Hotchkiss R.N. fourth ed. vol. 1. J.B.Lippincott; Philadelphia: 1996. Fractures and dislocations of the elbow; pp. 929–1024. (Rockwood and Green's Fractures in Adults).
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