Nonunion of radial neck fracture: An unusual differential diagnosis of tennis elbow, a case report

Abstract

A 67-year-old woman was referred because of persistent pain in her dominant right elbow. She had been treated for lateral epicondylitis and nonspecific wrist pain by intraarticular corticosteroid injection in the wrist and by physiotherapy for 2 years. The pain occurred during straining and with pro- and supination movements and had started after a fall on the right hand. Radiographs of the wrist were normal. There was full flexion and extension in the elbow joint and normal pro- and supination. There was tenderness on palpation of the lateral epicondyle. Resisted extension of the wrist was slightly painful, but grip strength was normal. Radiographs of the elbow showed an atrophic pseudarthrosis of the radial neck (Figure 1).