Valgus Deformity and Posterolateral Instability after Elbow Dislocation in a Pediatric Patient- Case Report

?Introduction: The aim of this paper is to report a rare case of a child who suffered a simple elbow dislocation (SED) that developed a post-traumatic valgus deformity and a subsequent posterolateral elbow instability.

We report a case of a female patient who suffered a posterolateral SED of her elbow at the age of 12. She was treated with closed reduction and over the years, she developed an asymptomatic valgus deformity. At the age of 16, she suffered a fall trauma while playing field hockey with a re-dislocation of the elbow. Since then, she presented multiple episodes of subluxation. A supracondylar subtractive wedge osteotomy of 20° and double plate osteosynthesis was performed with reconstruction of the ulnar lateral collateral ligament.

The focus of this article must be on the unusual occurrence of this sequence of conditions.SED is rare in children and generally associated with medial epicondyle fractures. The occurrence of a valgus deformity resulting from an injury to the periosteum can be present and must be taken into account. Posterolateral instability is rare in the context of a valgus elbow. Angular correction osteotomy and ligament reconstruction can be associated with good functional and aesthetic results.