Median Nerve Entrapment and Ulnar Nerve Palsy Following Elbow Dislocation in a Child

Abstract

This report presents a rare case of a child who presented with neglected intra-articular entrapment of the median nerve, ulnar nerve palsy, and intra-articular incarceration of the medial epicondyle following closed reduction of an elbow dislocation. In the present case, as in most other cases, the diagnosis and treatment were delayed. Careful initial and postreduction neurological examination, as well as careful interpretation of the plain radiographs, is necessary for early detection of any nerve complications and associated fractures of an elbow dislocation. The authors' opinion is that a child with an elbow dislocation, which is initially neurologically intact but advances to a median or ulnar nerve deficit after the reduction, must undergo early surgical exploration, especially when the dislocation is associated with a medial epicondyle fracture.