Traumatic elbow subluxation in a child: case report.

An 11-year-old boy fell on his outstretched right arm, following which he had pain on the lateral aspect of his right elbow with limitation of range of motion. Roentgenograms showed right elbow subluxation. The elbow was reduced and immobilized in a long arm splint for 5 days. The result was excellent. Elbow subluxation in previous reports was the result of recurrent elbow dislocation with instability. There are no reports of elbow subluxation in patients who did not have underlying recurrent elbow dislocation or elbow instability. This condition is easy to diagnose and has an excellent outcome.

Clinical manifestation of tuberculous and pyogenic spine infection.

The authors compared clinical and baseline parameters between patients with tuberculous spondylitis (67 patients) and pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis (34 patients). The average age was 50.8 (range, 1 to 82 years). Males were slightly more predominant in both pyogenic and tuberculous infections. Seventy per cent of patients with pyogenic infection had had symptoms for less than 3 months, while this was the case for only 44 per cent of the tuberculous patients. Lumbar spine was the most common site of involvement. Associated infections were more commonly found in tuberculous infection. Thirty per cent of tuberculous spondylitic patients were initially misdiagnosed, while 44 per cent of patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis had delayed diagnosis. Only 20 per cent and 30 per cent of tuberculous and pyogenic patients had fever, respectively. Neurological deficit occurred more frequently in pyogenic than in tuberculous infection (79% vs 59%), while bowel bladder involvement was more commonly found in tuberculous spondylitis. Kyphosis was significantly more common in tuberculosis than in pyogenic infection (50.8% vs 26.5%, respectively). Sinus tract formation, subcutaneous abscess formation and positive for SLRT (straight-leg-raising test) were found in only a small percentage of the patients. Duration of symptoms, site, associated infection, kyphosis and neurological deficit could be used for differentiation of spinal infection.