Elbow fracture

Last updated February 28, 2025

Elbow fractures are any broken bone in or near the elbow joint and include olecranon fractures, supracondylar humerus fractures and radial head fractures.^[1] The elbow joint is formed by three different bones: the ulna, radius, and humerus that permit the joint to move like a hinge and allow a person to straighten and bend their arm and these bones are connected by tendons, ligaments, and muscle to form the joint.^[2]

The terrible triad of the elbow (not to be confused with the terrible triad of the knee) is a combination of:^[3]

A fracture of the head of radius
A fracture of the coronoid process of the ulna
Humeroulnar dislocation (generally posterior or posterolateral)

The terrible triad of the elbow is confers joint instability and a major risk of developing osteoarthritis.^[3]

References

↑ Daniel K Nishijima. "Elbow Fracture" . Retrieved 9 December 2014.
↑ Marson, Ben A.; Ikram, Adeel; Craxford, Simon; Lewis, Sharon R.; Price, Kathryn R.; Ollivere, Benjamin J. (2022-06-09). "Interventions for treating supracondylar elbow fractures in children". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 6 (6): CD013609. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013609.pub2. ISSN 1469-493X. PMC 9178297 . PMID 35678077.
1 2 Seijas R, Ares-Rodriguez O, Orellana A, Albareda D, Collado D, Llusa M (2009). "Terrible triad of the elbow" (PDF). J Orthop Surg (Hong Kong). 17 (3): 335–9. doi: 10.1177/230949900901700319 .

This article about orthopedic surgery is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Daniel K Nishijima. "Elbow Fracture" . Retrieved 9 December 2014.

[2] Marson, Ben A.; Ikram, Adeel; Craxford, Simon; Lewis, Sharon R.; Price, Kathryn R.; Ollivere, Benjamin J. (2022-06-09). "Interventions for treating supracondylar elbow fractures in children". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 6 (6): CD013609. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013609.pub2. ISSN 1469-493X. PMC 9178297 . PMID 35678077.

[seijas2009-3] 1 2 Seijas R, Ares-Rodriguez O, Orellana A, Albareda D, Collado D, Llusa M (2009). "Terrible triad of the elbow" (PDF). J Orthop Surg (Hong Kong). 17 (3): 335–9. doi: 10.1177/230949900901700319 .

[1]

[2]

[3]