This 58-year-old male physical therapist, and world-class athletic trainer, now finds himself in need of rehabilitation. Have a look at the following GIF, and see if you can figure out why he cannot completely straighten his elbow. Q1 (Advanced) – There are two clinical syndromes that are manifested on imaging in this case. Can… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Elbow
Let’s start with the pinky, and see where it takes us
This 20-year-old male fell while skiing. Two weeks after the fall, the patient presented with pain, numbness, and tingling in the left pinky finger. Can you identify the anatomic correlate of the patient’s symptoms? Have a look at images 1 and 2, and see if you can put the story together. In images 3… Read more »
What has happened to this professional athlete?
This is a 26-year-old professional athlete. What do you think happened clinically? In other words, what type of injury is this? Then, identify what’s indicated by the red arrow, the green arrow, and the orange arrow. I will give you the answer for the pink/purple arrow at the end, so don’t worry about that one… Read more »
Is this lacrosse player dealing with a partial biceps tear?
This 16-year-old male has a right arm contusion after blunt trauma with ecchymosis and some soreness over tendon following a recent lacrosse injury. Q1 – A partial biceps tear is one of your top considerations, but is it the right call in this case? A1 – This patient’s biceps and triceps are intact… Read more »
What is causing this young tennis player’s pain?
This 15-year-old male has had elbow pain for two months. The posterior pain was noticed after playing tennis, and it is made worse with weightlifting. What seems to be his issue, and what are some potential causes you can rule out? This patient has olecranon apophysitis or epiphyseolysis as a repetitive overuse injury or… Read more »
This cheerleader has a dislocated elbow, but what else should you notice?
This is a classic example of an elbow dislocation as seen on the MRI (images 1-4) and X-ray (image 5). While the elbow dislocation is quite conspicuous, what else should you make sure to notice? via GIPHY Make sure you also make note of the medial apophyseal avulsion of the medial humeral epicondyle, as indicated… Read more »
What should you be looking for in this baseball player’s elbow injury?
This 21-year-old has sharp pain (worse with movement) and weakness after a baseball injury. Evaluate contusion. What’s the mechanism of injury? Pure valgus insult leads to proximal ulnar collateral ligament tear (arrow) and fracture with hyperintense edema of the radius. Your next move should be to evaluate the rest of the study and exclude an… Read more »
What is this nine-year-old’s unusual gymnastics injury?
This 9-year-old presents with an elbow injury from gymnastics. What is the mechanism? What does the solitary arrow indicate? What is the accompanying soft tissue injury? What do the double arrows indicate? The findings are the result of an acute valgus insult. The capitellum (single arrow) is edematous, a sign of this mechanism. The soft… Read more »
Elbow: No known injury-but missing component of lateral stabilizers
This 65-year-old presents for an elbow MRI with no known injury. Can you name the components of lateral stabilizers and what is missing? Let the arrows be your clue. Dynamic stabilizers are musculotendinous extensors and these are ruptured from their origin. Static stabilizers include: Lateral ulnar collateral ligament- intact (LUCL – double arrows, image… Read more »
