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Journal of Medical Case Reports
Published in: Journal of Medical Case Reports 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Case report

Isolated fracture of the humeral trochlea: a case report and review of the literature

Authors: Najib Abbassi, Najib Abdeljaouad, Abdelkrim Daoudi, Hicham Yacoubi

Published in: Journal of Medical Case Reports | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Introduction

Isolated fracture of the trochlea is a rarely reported entity. To the best of our knowledge, only 15 cases have been published. We report the case of a patient with an isolated fracture of the trochlea and discuss through a literature review the underlying mechanisms and the clinical, radiological and therapeutic features of this lesion. This work will significantly advance our understanding of this particular fracture.

Case presentation

A 21-year-old Caucasian man received an elbow injury. An anteroposterior radiograph showed only an irregularity of the medial joint space, but a lateral radiograph showed an intra-articular half-moon-shaped fragment that had moved up and forward. A computed tomography scan confirmed an isolated fracture of his trochlea. Open reduction and internal fixation were performed with a good outcome.

Conclusion

An isolated fracture of the trochlea is rare. The mechanisms generating this fracture are complex. As with other front-line fractures of the distal end of the humerus, such as the capitulum, we recommend open reduction and internal fixation for displaced fractures, with excision of the small osteochondral fragments that do not permit any osteosynthetic repair.
Literature
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2.
Somanna MS, Amarnath SD, Sudhakar SM, Umanand MP. A rare case of isolated fracture of trochlea - a case report. Orthopaedics J. 2008;5(3):e5. ISSN 0972-978X.
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Tetsuya N, Satoru S, Yasuhiko I, Atsushi S, Hiroyuki F, Masao T, et al. Isolated fracture of the trochlea: a case report. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2005;14:340–2. doi:10.1016/j.jse.2004.07.012.CrossRef
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Kwan MK, Khoo EH, Chua YP, Mansor A. Isolated displaced fracture of humeral trochlea: a report of two rare cases. Injury Extra. 2007;38:461–5. doi:10.1016/j.injury.2007.04.005.CrossRef
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Metadata
Title
Isolated fracture of the humeral trochlea: a case report and review of the literature
Authors
Najib Abbassi
Najib Abdeljaouad
Abdelkrim Daoudi
Hicham Yacoubi
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Journal of Medical Case Reports / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1752-1947
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-015-0564-1

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