Bilateral Elbow Dislocation Without Fracture After Minor Trauma in a Healthy Adult Man

Bilateral Elbow Dislocation Without Fracture After Minor Trauma in a Healthy Adult Man

The elbow is the second most frequently dislocated major joint in adults. Elbow dislocation is a common traumatic injury, occurring in approximately 20% of all joint dislocations. Falling onto an outstretched hand is the most prevalent cause of elbow dislocation. Simultaneous bilateral elbow dislocation is a rare presentation, and reports of similar injuries are very limited. A 21-year-old male patient was brought to the emergency department after landing on both hands with flexed elbows from a height of one meter while doing home decoration work. The posterolateral dislocations was detected in both elbows without a fracture on the plain radiographs. The patient's elbows were reduced under procedural sedation analgesia in the emergency department. The patient's splints were removed in the orthopedics outpatient clinic after a 2-week follow-up, and he had no complications. It should be noted that serious bilateral dislocations can occur even in minor traumas like this. Procedural sedation not only prevents the delay of the procedure and the occurrence of complications, especially during the treatment of such multiple dislocations, but also increases patient comfort.

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