UMEM Educational Pearls - By Sarah Kleist

Title: Nursemaid's Elbow Reduction Methods

Keywords: supination with flexion, hyperpronation (PubMed Search)

Posted: 5/4/2018 by Sarah Kleist, MD
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Question

Nursemaid’s elbow is a common pediatric injury with peak incidence occurring between two and three years of age. It is a condition that typically arises from a sudden upward pull of the arm as an axial traction is placed on the forearm, and the radius is pulled through the annular ligament, resulting in subluxation of the radial head. Over the years, various maneuvers have been attempted, but the two most common are supination with flexion and hyperpronation. A 2017 Cochrane meta-analysis analyzed 8 trials specifically comparing supination with flexion versus hyperpronation. Data from those trials suggested that hyperpronation resulted in less failures at ?rst attempt than the supination-?exion, and although there was limited data, there was no obvious difference in adverse events or pain between the two techniques.

Bottom Line: There is likely a lower risk of failure with first attempt reduction with hyperpronation than with supination-flexion for nursemaid’s elbow.

UMEM Educational Pearls - By Sarah Kleist

Title: Nursemaid's Elbow Reduction Methods

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