ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2017
Unstable simple elbow dislocations: medium-term results after non-surgical and surgical treatment.
Article in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of Osteochondral Lesions on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Following Simple Elbow Dislocations.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Conservative and surgical management of simple elbow dislocations: SMDA-SEC consensus and guidelines.Orthopedic reviews · 2025Article
- A single-surgeon experience with the internal joint stabilizer of the elbow across 56 cases.JSES international · 2025Article
- Acute elbow dislocation: a critical appraisal of the literature.JSES international · 2023Review
- [Ligamentous elbow injuries-When is surgical treatment still indicated?]Unfallchirurgie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2023Review
- High correlation of the subjective elbow value with Mayo Elbow Performance Score and Oxford Elbow Score in patients with elbow dislocation.JSES international · 2023Article
- High return to sport rate and good patient-reported outcomes in recreational athletes following simple elbow dislocations.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Article
- Patient satisfaction, joint stability and return to sports following simple elbow dislocations: surgical versus non-surgical treatment.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2023Article
- [Augmented primary sutures "internal bracing" following ligamentous elbow dislocation].Operative Orthopadie und Traumatologie · 2023Article
- MRI in acute simple elbow dislocations: correlation of preoperative imaging and intraoperative findings of collateral ligaments and associated soft tissue injuries.Musculoskeletal surgery · 2022Article
- Early functional mobilization for non-operative treatment of simple elbow dislocations: a systematic review.Shoulder & elbow · 2022Review
- Injury patterns following simple elbow dislocation: radiological analysis implies existence of a pure valgus dislocation mechanism.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2021Article
- The flail elbow: Every surgeon's nightmare.Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma · 2021Article
- We still do not know which patients with a(n) (almost) simple elbow dislocation need an operative treatment.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2021Article
- Acute elbow dislocation: comparison between magnetic resonance imaging and intra-operative finding of ligament injury.International orthopaedics · 2021Article
- Distribution of Osteochondral Lesions in Patients With Simple Elbow Dislocations Based on MRI Analysis.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2020Article
- Simple and stable elbow dislocations: results after conservative treatment.Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis · 2020Article
- Repair and augmentation of the lateral collateral ligament complex using internal bracing in dislocations and fracture dislocations of the elbow restores stability and allows early rehabilitation.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2019Article
- Primary Ligament Repair for Acute Elbow Dislocation.JBJS essential surgical techniques · 2019Article
- Functional outcomes and complications of open elbow dislocations.Obere extremitat · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeDetermination of the appropriate treatment of unstable simple elbow dislocations is difficult and a topic of ongoing discussion. The aim of this study was to analyse the outcome and complications after surgery and conservative treatment, with special focus on post-traumatic joint laxity.
methodsIn this retrospective study, 118 consecutive patients with simple elbow dislocations underwent stability testing by fluoroscopy after joint reduction and were assigned to groups 1 (slight), 2 (moderate) or 3 (gross) depending on post-traumatic joint laxity. All patients of group 1 underwent conservative treatment, and of group 3 primary ligament repair. In patients with moderate elbow laxity, the treatment was decided individually. All patients underwent a similar functional rehabilitation programme during treatment. Clinical outcome was determined after an average of 3.4 ± 1.5 years using the Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS), and treatment-associated complications and revisions were recorded.
resultsForty-nine patients (41.5 %) were assigned to group 1, 41 patients (34.7 %) to group 2 and 28 patients (23.7 %) to group 3. In group 2, 22 patients underwent ligament repair, while 19 patients were treated conservatively. On average, an excellent MEPS was achieved in group 1 after conservative treatment (MEPS 95.8 ± 9.0), similar to results after ligament repair of grossly unstable elbows in group 3 (91.6 ± 11.7). Interestingly, in group 2 conservative treatment was associated with a slightly lower MEPS (90.0 vs. 95.7), and significantly fewer patients achieved an excellent MEPS (81.8 vs. 52.6 %, p = 0.045). Similarly, conservative treatment in group 2 was associated with a fivefold to sixfold risk of complications (p = 0.032) and revision surgery (p = 0.023).
conclusionsThis study supports the notion that patients with slight elbow laxity can be treated non-operatively, while primary surgical treatment should be performed in patients with moderate and gross laxity to avoid post-traumatic sequelae and decrease revision rates. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Retrospective Cohort Study, Level III.
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