Abstract
This case report details a caudal unilateral traumatic elbow luxation in a 4-year-old male neutered Labrador following a road traffic trauma. This is a highly unusual injury in the dog. The pathogenesis and successful treatment by closed reduction followed by stabilisation with a temporary transarticular external skeletal fixator are discussed. The dog was assessed at 4 weeks and 6 months after surgery. Findings at 6 months after treatment demonstrated a normal gait with no pain or crepitation. A mild amount of soft tissue thickening around the elbow was noted. The range of motion of the elbow was limited to 45 degrees of flexion and 150 degrees of extension. This is the first case of a traumatic caudal luxation of the elbow in a dog described in the English veterinary literature and the first report of successful management of an elbow luxation in a dog by closed reduction and temporary transarticular fixation.
Highlights
The elbow consists of the humeroradial, humeroulnar, and proximal radioulnar joints
This report describes a polytrauma case in a dog with multiple injuries including a unilateral, caudal elbow luxation. This caudal elbow luxation was successfully stabilised by closed reduction and placement of a temporary transarticular external skeletal fixator
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first case of a caudal luxation of the elbow in a dog described in the English veterinary literature and the first report of management of an elbow luxation in a dog by closed reduction and temporary transarticular fixation
Summary
The elbow joint is regarded as a stable joint as a result of the combination of strong surrounding muscular and ligamentous structures and the presence of the anconeal process which interlocks into the olecranon fossa when the elbow is extended beyond 45 degrees [1,2,3] Due to these anatomical features and the nature of the forces that the elbow is most commonly subjected to during trauma, fracture of the distal humerus or proximal radius and ulna is more common than elbow joint luxation in the dog [2,3,4,5,6]. The pathogenesis and successful treatment by closed reduction followed by stabilisation with a temporary transarticular external skeletal fixator are discussed
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