Salvage of elbow function in chronic complex elbow fracture dislocation with total elbow arthroplasty: a case report

In patients with an elbow fracture dislocation the incidence of radial head fracture is 36%, where as coronoid process fractures occur in 13%, and olecranon fractures in 4% of patients. Combination of all these fractures with a 'terrible triad' is rarely reported in the literature. We describe a 40 year old lady involved in a polytrauma who had head injury, pnuemothorax and an open fracture dislocation of the left elbow. The Injury Severity Score initially on admission was 44. She presented with chronic elbow instability with pain 1 year later. A semi constrained total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) with a Coonrad-Morrey prosthesis was performed in this complex injury involving fractures of the coronoid, olecranon, proximal third of the ulna and radial head malunion with heterotrophic ossification around the elbow joint. Although the survivorship of total elbow replacements has improved, it is still a procedure reserved to older patients with low functional demand. At 1-year follow-up, the patient had full range in flexion and extension. The Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS) was 100. TEA is a procedure which gains function and stability in a terrible triad elbow.