Triple injury of forearm and elbow—a case report

Abstract

Fracture of the forearm with ipsilateral dislocation of the elbow is uncommon. Such double injuries are often missed at initial assessment. We report a case of triple injury of forearm and elbow—open elbow dislocation, closed distal radius, and ulna fracture with missed medial epicondyle fracture. To the best of our knowledge, this has not been previously described in literature. The most probable mechanism of injury is a fall on outstretched hand with wrist in dorsiflexion causing the distal radius and ulna fracture with dorsal displacement. Further continuation of the axial compression along with supination of the forearm and valgus at the elbow resulted in posterolateral elbow dislocation and a medial epicondyle avulsion. Early debridement and reduction resulted in satisfactory function. The report attempts to highlight the importance of good clinical and radiological assessment and to understand the mechanism of injury, to rule out other injuries caused by the same mechanism.