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World J Orthop. Jan 18, 2016; 7(1): 50-54
Published online Jan 18, 2016. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v7.i1.50
Review of management of unstable elbow fractures
Omer Ozel, Emre Demircay
Omer Ozel, Emre Demircay, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Baskent University, 34662 Istanbul, Turkey
Author contributions: All the authors contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Emre Demircay, Associate Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Baskent University, Oymaci Sokak No: 7 Altunizade, 34662 Istanbul, Turkey. emredemircay@hotmail.com
Telephone: +90-216-5541500 Fax: +90-216-6519746
Received: June 4, 2015
Peer-review started: June 5, 2015
First decision: July 6, 2015
Revised: October 7, 2015
Accepted: November 3, 2015
Article in press: November 4, 2015
Published online: January 18, 2016
Processing time: 224 Days and 14.9 Hours
Abstract

Stable and painless elbow motion is essential for activities of daily living. The elbow joint is the second most commonly dislocated joint in adults. The goals of treatment are to perform a stable fixation of all fractures, to achieve concentric and stable reduction of the elbow and to provide early motion. The treatment modality for complex elbow instability is almost always surgical. The treatment objectives are anatomic reduction, stable fixation, and early rehabilitation of the elbow. The common complications of these unstable fractures include recurrent instability, stiffness, myositis ossifications, heterotopic calcification, and neurovascular dysfunction. We analyzed the management of complex elbow fractures and instabilities on the basis of recent literature and suggested possible guidelines for the treatment in this paper. In conclusion, recognition of the injury pattern and restoration of the joint stability are the prerequisites for any successful treatment of an unstable elbow injury.

Keywords: Transolecranon fracture; Coronoid fracture; Monteggia injury; Radial head fracture; Terrible triad

Core tip: As the elbow joint is the second most commonly dislocated joint in adults, we aimed to analyze the management of complex elbow fractures and instabilities, on the basis of recent literature and suggested possible guidelines for the treatment in this paper.