Parents Elbow Dislocation and Medial Epicondyle Fracture Repair

[Gymnastmom818]

Hello!

My 7 year old daughter is a competitive dancer and gymnast. She was in a tumbling class two weeks ago and ended up dislocating her elbow and fracturing the medial epicondyle bone in her elbow. She had surgery to repair the fracture with a screw and is currently splinted, we have her follow up tomorrow. For those who have had surgery, how was the recovery? Was mobility of the elbow impacted? Did you end up having surgery to remove the screw?

Thank you!!

 

[lilygym07]

I have had this exact surgery! I think for her age they will probably make you take the screw out as she isn't fully developed. I have heard that if you choose to get the screw out the recovery is much quicker as it is not a full cut, it's more of a little hole and people can do stuff within a week or two. After my surgery I had to go a month without running /jumping /flipping/anything that would be considered dangerous. Throughout that time and after I did OT (occupational therapy) and I now have a full range of motion. If you are super diligent with the exercises they give you, it should be alright. The hardest part is that you lose shoulder and arm strength as well as muscle endurance. My arm gets tired quickly but it's gotten better. I was also prescribed vitamin D (even though my levels were in the safe range) to help promote bone growth. Hope she feels better!

 

[Gymnastmom818]

I have had this exact surgery! I think for her age they will probably make you take the screw out as she isn't fully developed. I have heard that if you choose to get the screw out the recovery is much quicker as it is not a full cut, it's more of a little hole and people can do stuff within a week or two. After my surgery I had to go a month without running /jumping /flipping/anything that would be considered dangerous. Throughout that time and after I did OT (occupational therapy) and I now have a full range of motion. If you are super diligent with the exercises they give you, it should be alright. The hardest part is that you lose shoulder and arm strength as well as muscle endurance. My arm gets tired quickly but it's gotten better. I was also prescribed vitamin D (even though my levels were in the safe range) to help promote bone growth. Hope she feels better!

Thank you for the reply! Did you also dislocate your elbow at the same time? She has the cast off now and is working on her range of motion. She is doing pretty well with it, but am curious how long it will be before she gets her full extension back! It

 

[Tulip811]

My daughter dislocated her elbow and had a slight hairline fracture (no surgery). Her accident was in December 2021 and she did not return to the gym until May 2022. she has not yet regained full range of motion. She cannot bend her elbow completely (can't touch her shoulder) although she can extend it fully. When extended its at a very awkward angle that looks crazy. She did month sof occupational therapy. Her orthopedist says that she could wear a brace at night to force the full range of motion but (13yo) dd is refusing.

 

[Gymnastmom818]

My daughter dislocated her elbow and had a slight hairline fracture (no surgery). Her accident was in December 2021 and she did not return to the gym until May 2022. she has not yet regained full range of motion. She cannot bend her elbow completely (can't touch her shoulder) although she can extend it fully. When extended its at a very awkward angle that looks crazy. She did month sof occupational therapy. Her orthopedist says that she could wear a brace at night to force the full range of motion but (13yo) dd is refusing.

Sorry to hear your daughter went through the same thing! How long was your daughter casted for?

How has gymnastics been for her since returning?

 

[Tulip811]

Sorry to hear your daughter went through the same thing! How long was your daughter casted for?

How has gymnastics been for her since returning?

She was never casted but had a mobile splint. For her specific injury the current practice is not to cast since that prevent use of hte elbow. They wanted her moving the elboy (safely) as quickly as possible. I'd guess your DDs cast will come off quickly but they'll splint her afterward. My daughter had the splint on in the gym for a long time. The splint was on in case she fell on something simple (low beam and conditioning was about all she could do for almost the whole 6 month recovery). I can't remember when she got the splint off for school/general walking around where falling wasn't a risk....maybe 2 months.

as for gymnastics since...OK, not great. She has a huge amount of fear on bars (apparatus she had the accident on), but she is fantastic on beam since thats all she could do for months and months! about two weeks after being cleared from the elbow she had a fluke landing and broke her foot. So all things compounded she lost about a year.

 

[Pfiga]

My daughter broke her elbow about four years ago, in September 2019. She did not dislocate it and did not need surgery, but it was a complicated fracture of two bones (I forget the exact details). She had a cast for 4 weeks, then had some rest, and then PT for a long time. She had trouble regaining full range of motion and could not fully bend or extend her arm until the following June (we did at-home PT during covid).
I hope your daughter has a faster and less painful recovery!

 

[Gymnastmom818]

Thank you for all the feedback! My daughter is doing pretty well with her range of motion so far! She got her cast off on Friday, and yesterday at PT was about 10 degrees shy of full extension to 0. She has about 15 degrees to go for full flexion. She is hyper mobile in her joints so her other arm goes to -12. We are hopefully she will be able to get extension to 0 but unsure if her hyper mobility will return in the right arm, they physical therapist says that may not be a bad thing as it could force her other arm to not extend past 0. Praying for a quick recovery for her, and hope your daughters are all doing well!