Avulsion Fracture of Brachioradialis Muscle Origin: An Exceedingly Rare Entity: A Case Report

• Main Authors: Behera G, Balaji G, Menon J, Sharma D, Komuravalli VK
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malaysian Orthopaedic Association 2016-07-01
• Series: Malaysian Orthopaedic Journal
• Subjects: Brachioradialis muscle; avulsion injury; non-operative treatment
• Online Access: http://www.morthoj.org/2016/v10n2/avulsion-fracture.pdf

Avulsion fracture of the brachioradialis origin at its proximal attachment on the lateral supracondylar ridge of the distal humerus is exceedingly rare, and only two cases have been reported in the literature so far. In this article, we present a 38 years old patient who sustained a closed avulsion fracture of the lateral supracondylar ridge of left humerus at the proximal attachment of brachioradialis following a fall backwards on outstretched hand after being struck by a lorry from behind while riding on a two-wheeler (motorcycle). He was managed with above elbow plaster for four weeks followed by elbow and wrist mobilization. At final followup, the patient had painless full range elbow motion with good elbow flexion strength. The unique mechanism by which this avulasion fracture occurred is explained on the basis of the mode of injury, position of the limb and structure and function of the brachioradialis muscle.