Morrey and An synthesize cadaveric biomechanical data from the Mayo Clinic to define the relative contributions of the three osseous stabilizers of the elbow — the olecranon, radial head, and coronoid — across different joint positions and loading conditions, establishing a hierarchy of articular constraint.
When evaluating elbow trauma, treat coronoid integrity as the non-negotiable priority: less than 50% remaining coronoid predicts instability regardless of ligament status, and no soft-tissue repair can compensate for this deficit.
Reconstruct or replace the radial head whenever the MCL or DRUJ is violated, as the radial head becomes the last line of defense against valgus subluxation in that setting.
Morrey and An synthesize cadaveric biomechanical data from the Mayo Clinic to define the relative contributions of the three osseous stabilizers of the elbow — the olecranon, radial head, and coronoid — across different joint positions and loading conditions, establishing a hierarchy of articular constraint.
When evaluating elbow trauma, treat coronoid integrity as the non-negotiable priority: less than 50% remaining coronoid predicts instability regardless of ligament status, and no soft-tissue repair can compensate for this deficit.
Reconstruct or replace the radial head whenever the MCL or DRUJ is violated, as the radial head becomes the last line of defense against valgus subluxation in that setting.