This 1997 narrative review by Skaggs covers diagnosis and management of the full spectrum of pediatric elbow fractures — lateral condyle, medial epicondyle, olecranon, proximal radius, supracondylar, and transphyseal — with emphasis on how developmental ossification patterns complicate radiographic interpretation and dictate treatment decisions.
When you see any pediatric elbow injury, run through all four radiographic checks (radiocapitellar line, ulnohumeral axis, anterior humeral line, Baumann's angle) before calling a film normal — the cartilaginous elbow hides fractures that only displaced ossification centers will reveal.
Always document neurovascular status before reduction: a nerve deficit found post-operatively without a pre-reduction baseline creates an avoidable medicolegal and clinical crisis.
This 1997 narrative review by Skaggs covers diagnosis and management of the full spectrum of pediatric elbow fractures — lateral condyle, medial epicondyle, olecranon, proximal radius, supracondylar, and transphyseal — with emphasis on how developmental ossification patterns complicate radiographic interpretation and dictate treatment decisions.
When you see any pediatric elbow injury, run through all four radiographic checks (radiocapitellar line, ulnohumeral axis, anterior humeral line, Baumann's angle) before calling a film normal — the cartilaginous elbow hides fractures that only displaced ossification centers will reveal.
Always document neurovascular status before reduction: a nerve deficit found post-operatively without a pre-reduction baseline creates an avoidable medicolegal and clinical crisis.