Missed post-traumatic radial head dislocation in a three-year-old child: A case report

In children, traumatic radial head dislocation (RHD) is usually associated with ulnar fracture or deformation as reported in a Monteggia injury or its Monteggia variant. Isolated traumatic RHD is extremely rare and excep-tional. Traumatic RHD is frequently missed on initial radiographs, particularly if it is isolated. The manage-ment of missed RHD is challenging and remains controversial. We reporta Case of chronic post-traumatic RHD in a three-year-old child treated with open reduc-tion and reconstruction of the annular ligament. The child's elbow was stable during the follow-up, without swelling or deformity, and the elbow function was normal. The injury of the reported case does not belong to any lesion described in the Monteggia-variant classi-fication, which might explain the reason for missing the associated dislocation. The authors recommend urgent open reduction when a chronic RHD is diagnosed and annular ligament reconstruction, particularly when the open reduction is unstable.