Conservative and surgical management of simple elbow dislocations: SMDA-SEC consensus and guidelines

Proper management of simple elbow dislocations is mandatory to avoid elbow stiffness, chronic instability, heterotopic ossification, or deformity of the elbow. The aim of the present study was to perform a systematic review of the current treatments of simple elbow dislocations to identify the best non-surgical and surgical management for patients with simple elbow dislocations (SED).

A review of the literature was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, and Google Scholar databases was performed using the following keywords: "elbow dislocation", "simple elbow dislocation", "traumatic elbow dislocation", "treatment", "management", "reduction", "rehabilitation", "functional outcome", "range of motion", "complications", "recovery time" over the years 1976-2024.

The literature search and cross-referencing resulted in a total of 345 references, of which 283 were rejected due to off-topic abstract and/or failure to fulfil the inclusion criteria. After reading the remaining full-text articles, we included 60 studies, investigating non-surgical management or surgical management of simple elbow dislocations.

The SMDA-SEC consensus panel provided recommendations to improve the management of patients with SED in clinical practice. Early mobilization is recommended for all cases of simple elbow dislocations. The CMA-EC panel was unable to advise or against the short-period (1-3-wk) immobilization, prolonged (3-wk) immobilization or operative treatment due to insufficient or conflicting evidence.