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Understanding the recurrent pulled elbow
Ugur Bezirgan1, Göksel Vatansever2, Yener Yoğun1
1Hand Surgery Unit, Orthopedics and Traumatology Department, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine.
Insights
Joint hyperlaxity, not bone anatomy, is linked to recurrent nursemaid elbow dislocations in children. This finding helps understand the causes of repeated radial head subluxation.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Orthopedics
- Radiology
- Clinical Epidemiology
Background:
- Nursemaid elbow, a common pediatric injury, involves radial head subluxation.
- The exact causes of recurrent dislocations and the influence of patient-specific factors remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the epidemiology of recurrent nursemaid elbow dislocations.
- To assess the impact of joint hyperlaxity and bone anatomy on recurrent injuries.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective study of 329 pediatric patients diagnosed with nursemaid elbow.
- Radiographic measurement of the radius head-neck ratio.
- Evaluation of joint hyperlaxity using the Beighton score in patients with recurrent dislocations.
Main Results:
- A significant association was found between Beighton scores and the number of dislocations in cases of multiple dislocations (P=0.002).
- No significant relationship was identified between the number of dislocations and the lateral radius head/neck ratio (P=0.061).
Conclusions:
- Joint hyperlaxity syndrome is a key factor in the etiology of recurrent nursemaid elbow dislocations.
- Bone anatomy, specifically the radius head-neck ratio, does not appear to be a significant predictor of recurrent dislocations.
Abstract:
Nursemaid elbow is subluxation of the radius head seen in early childhood. The aim of this study was to examine the epidemiology of recurrent dislocations and the effect of hyperlaxity and bone anatomy on recurrent dislocations in these injuries, for which the pathogenesis has not been fully clarified. The study included a total of 329 paediatric patients who presented at the Paediatric Emergency Department (ED) between January 2016 and December 2022, and were diagnosed with Nursemaid Elbow. On presentation at ED, two-directional elbow radiographs were taken of all the patients and the radius head-neck ratio was measured on the lateral elbow radiograph. The Beighton score of joint hyperlaxity was evaluated in all the patients with a history of recurrent dislocation. A statistically significant difference was determined between the Beighton score groups in respect of the number of dislocations in multiple dislocations ( P = 0.002). No statistically significant relationship was determined between the number of dislocations and the lateral radius head/neck ratio ( P = 0.061). Hyperlaxity syndrome should be kept in mind in the aetiology of multiple dislocations.
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