Recurrent Dislocation of the Elbow

Abstract

1. Recurrent dislocation of the elbow is caused primarily by collateral ligament laxity with secondary damage to the capitulum and head of radius. 2. The pathological changes resemble those of recurrent dislocation of the shoulder. 3. Subluxation or instability of the radial head is often associated with capsular ossification and deserves wider recognition because it may be confused with osteochondritis dissecans. 4. A simple method of soft-tissue repair has successfully prevented redislocation of eight elbows.

Elbow Instability Associated With Bicolumnar Fracture of the Distal Humerus: Report of Three Cases

“…6,7 Lateral collateral ligament insufficiency is the most common cause of recurrent dislocation of the ulnohumeral joint. 8 The dislocation occurs through a posterolateral rotatory instability mechanism. When the lateral collateral ligament is disrupted, the origin of the lateral collateral ligament should be reattached to the lateral epicondyle using suture anchors by drilling holes plates with an additional lateral screw separate from the plate, the elbow was subluxated directly medially so that the radial head articulated with the lateral trochlea.…”

“…The patient died within 6 months of injury. through the bone, or by anchoring the repair to the implant 8. …”

Current Concepts: Simple and Complex Elbow Dislocations – Acute and Definitive Treatment

“…The impact of the tip of the olecranon on the olecranon fossa has a leverage effect as a result of the combination of valgus-, supinationand outward rotating position of the forearm, while the coronoid process slips in a dorsal direction over the trochlea of humerus [10][11][12]. When a person falls on his/her hand with a flexed elbow joint, the force acting in a direct axial direction causes the olecranon to slip out [13,14].…”

Recurrent dislocation of the elbow

“…A lateral approach was made in the other seven cases, once to re-attach the lateral collateral ligament, and in six to undertake the OsborneCotterill procedure [12]. The latter operation closes the posterolateral pouch with sutures which pass through the lateral epicondyle.…”

“…The aetiology has been poorly understood and consequently many different operations have been described [2,5,6,7,10,11,12,13,14,15]. Osborne and Cotterill reported 18 cases collected from three hospitals in the United Kingdom [9].…”