This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) CME: Take the exam for this article: Shoulder/Elbow Test 21: Fall 2007 (publication date November 15, 2007; expi... [Supplementary Material] Letters to the Editor: Submit a response Letters to the Editor: View responses Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bunata, R. E. Articles by Capelo, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bunata, R. E. Articles by Capelo, R. Related Collections Elbow Sports Social Bookmarking             What's this?

Anatomic Factors Related to the Cause of Tennis Elbow

¹ 4054 Hildring Drive West, Fort Worth, TX 76109. E-mail address: rbunata{at}hsc.unt.edu
² 2020 West Highway 114, Suite 110, Grapevine, TX 76051

Investigation performed at the University of North Texas Health Science Center—John Peter Smith Affiliated Orthopedic Residency Program, Fort Worth, Texas

Disclosure: The authors did not receive any outside funding or grants in support of their research for or preparation of this work. Neither they nor a member of their immediate families received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, division, center, clinical practice, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors, or a member of their immediate families, are affiliated or associated.

Methods: Eighty-five cadaveric elbows were examined to determine details related to the bone structure and musculotendinous origins. We identified the relative positions of the musculotendinous units and the underlying bone when the elbow was in different degrees of flexion. We also recorded the contact between the extensor carpi radialis brevis and the lateral edge of the capitellum as elbow motion occurred, and we sought to identify the areas of the capitellum and extensor carpi radialis brevis where contact occurs.

Results: The average site of origin of the extensor carpi radialis brevis on the humerus lay slightly medial and superior to the outer edge of the capitellum. As the elbow was extended, the undersurface of the extensor carpi radialis brevis rubbed against the lateral edge of the capitellum while the extensor carpi radialis longus compressed the brevis against the underlying bone.

Conclusions: The extensor carpi radialis brevis tendon has a unique anatomic location that makes its undersurface vulnerable to contact and abrasion against the lateral edge of the capitellum during elbow motion.

Clinical Relevance: This information may help us to understand the pathomechanics of lateral epicondylitis and provide a better rationale for operative and nonoperative treatment.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Technorati    What's this?

Letters to the Editor:

Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press (TM) assists in the publication of JBJS Online.
Copyright © 2007 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc. Online ISSN: 1535-1386.
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery®, JBJS®, JB&JS®, and eJBJS® are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.