Radial Head Fractures eMedicine Orthopedics

Description: Article by Steven I Rabin, MD 2005
Radial head fractures and dislocations are traumatic injuries that require adequate treatment to prevent disability from stiffness, deformity, posttraumatic arthritis, nerve damage, or other serious complications. Radial head fractures and dislocations may be isolated just to the radial head (and neck) and the lateral elbow (and proximal forearm), or they may be part of a combined complex fracture injury pattern involving the other structures of the elbow, distal humerus, or forearm and wrist.
Synonyms and related keywords: radial neck fractures, broken arm, broken elbow, radial dislocation, proximal radial migration, displaced radial head and neck fractures, Monteggia fracture-dislocation