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General
intermediate
X-Type

Posterior Approach to the Elbow

Upper Limb Approaches

A 72-year-old woman sustains a displaced intra-articular distal humerus fracture (AO type C3) after a fall. The surgeon plans open reduction internal fixation through a posterior approach. During preoperative planning, the team discusses the options for managing the triceps mechanism to access the distal humeral articular surface. Regarding posterior approaches to the elbow:

Mark each as TRUE or FALSE

A

The posterior midline incision should curve around the tip of the olecranon (either medially or late...

B

Options for managing the triceps mechanism include: triceps splitting, triceps reflecting (Bryan-Mor...

C

The olecranon osteotomy provides the poorest visualization of the distal humeral articular surface; ...

D

The olecranon osteotomy provides the best visualization of the distal humeral articular surface; the...

E

Complications of olecranon osteotomy include nonunion (5-10%), symptomatic hardware requiring remova...

Answer the questions to see explanations

Click T (True) or F (False) for each option