ArticleJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research2015
Initial joint stability affects the outcome after conservative treatment of simple elbow dislocations: a retrospective study.
Article in Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treatment strategies for simple elbow dislocation - a systematic review.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Pooled it
- Return to Sport Following Elbow Dislocation: A Systematic Review.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Review
- Congruence angle and medial ulnar translation: a novel measurement to assess the severity of ligament injury in simple elbow dislocation.Bone & joint open · 2025Article
- Acute elbow dislocation: a critical appraisal of the literature.JSES international · 2023Review
- Elbow Kinematics and Function Following Treatment with Open Arthrolysis and Hinged External Fixator.Orthopaedic surgery · 2023Article
- Article
- High return to sport rate and good patient-reported outcomes in recreational athletes following simple elbow dislocations.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Article
- The inter-individual anatomical variation of the trochlear notch as a predisposition for simple elbow dislocation.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2022Article
- Open elbow dislocation with no osseous injury associated with median nerve transection.JSES international · 2022Article
- MRI in acute simple elbow dislocations: correlation of preoperative imaging and intraoperative findings of collateral ligaments and associated soft tissue injuries.Musculoskeletal surgery · 2022Article
- Hidden instability in posttraumatic stiff elbows.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2021Article
- Severe traumatic valgus instability of the elbow: pathoanatomy and outcomes of primary operation.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2019Article
- Anterior elbow dislocation without fracture in an adult: a rare injury pattern.BMJ case reports · 2019Article
- Primary Ligament Repair for Acute Elbow Dislocation.JBJS essential surgical techniques · 2019Article
- [Instability after operative and conservative treatment of isolated Mason type II fractures].Der Unfallchirurg · 2019Article
- [Acute and chronic instability of the elbow joint].Der Orthopade · 2018Article
- Functional outcomes and complications of open elbow dislocations.Obere extremitat · 2018Article
- Simple elbow dislocation.Shoulder & elbow · 2017Review
- Unstable simple elbow dislocations: medium-term results after non-surgical and surgical treatment.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2017Article
- Interobserver and intraobserver agreement of ligamentous injuries on conventional MRI after simple elbow dislocation.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundConservative treatment of simple elbow dislocations can lead to complications such as persisting pain and restricted joint mobility. The current aim was to identify patients with deteriorated outcome after conservative treatment and to investigate a possible association with initial joint (in)stability.
methodsSixty-eight patients (mean age 37.1 ± 17.2 years) with simple elbow dislocations received conservative treatment. After closed reduction, joint stability was tested by varus and valgus stress under fluoroscopy. According to the findings under fluoroscopy, three different groups of instability could be identified: (1) slight instability (joint angulation <10°; n = 49), (2) moderate instability (angulation ≥10°; n = 19) and (3) gross instability. Patients with gross instability (re-dislocation under stability testing) were treated with primary surgical ligament repair and therefore excluded from this study. Additionally, MRIs and radiographs were analysed regarding warning signs of instability such as the drop sign and joint incongruence. Main outcome parameters were the Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS), range of motion (ROM), complications and revision rates.
resultsAfter 40.7 ± 20.4 months, the overall MEPS was excellent (94.2 ± 11.3) with a trend of slightly worse clinical results in group 2 (95.8 ± 9.0 vs. 90.0 ± 15.2 points; p = 0.154). In group 1, significantly more patients achieved an excellent result regarding the MEPS scoring system (77.6 vs. 52.6 %; p = 0.043) and elbow extension was significantly worse in group 2 (5.3 ± 9.9° vs. 1.4 ± 3.0°; p = 0.015). Seven treatment complications occurred in group 2 (36.8 %) compared with two in group 1 (4.1 %, p < 0.0001). Six patients (8.8 %) needed secondary surgery with an 8.4-fold higher risk for revision surgery in group 2 (p = 0.007). The presence of a positive drop sign or joint incongruence led to higher odds ratio (OR) for complications (OR = 15.9) and revision surgery (OR = 10.3).
conclusionsThis study demonstrates that patients with moderate joint instability after simple elbow dislocation have a significantly worse clinical outcome, more complications and a higher need for secondary revision surgery following conservative treatment compared to patients with slight elbow instability.
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