James G Gamble1, Jeffrey E Krygier2. 1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California. 2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System, San Jose, California.
Abstract
CASE: A 5-year-9-month-old boy sustained a fracture of the supracondylar process of the distal humerus. The fracture healed with cast immobilization and with no neurovascular complications. Magnetic resonance imaging showed the medial nerve and the brachial artery to be located under the ligament of Struthers that extended from the supracondylar process to the medial epicondyle. CONCLUSIONS: Fracture of the supracondylar process of the humerus in children is rare and easy to misdiagnose, but once discovered, the fracture can be treated successfully with cast immobilization and without compromise to the neurovascular structures passing under the ligament of Struthers.
CASE: A 5-year-9-month-old boy sustained a fracture of the supracondylar process of the distal humerus. The fracture healed with cast immobilization and with no neurovascular complications. Magnetic resonance imaging showed the medial nerve and the brachial artery to be located under the ligament of Struthers that extended from the supracondylar process to the medial epicondyle. CONCLUSIONS:Fracture of the supracondylar process of the humerus in children is rare and easy to misdiagnose, but once discovered, the fracture can be treated successfully with cast immobilization and without compromise to the neurovascular structures passing under the ligament of Struthers.