Purpose: Neglected anterior radial head dislocation in type I Monteggia lesions leads to restriction of movement, deformity and instability of the affected elbow. If left untreated this leads to a painful arthritic elbow due to secondary degenerative changes. This is a difficult problem to manage and many intra-articular, extra-articular and combined procedures have been described with variable results. We report a new technique of sliding angulation osteotomy for this condition, which allows both lengthening and angulation of the ulna.
Methods: A novel technique of sliding angulation osteotomy of the proximal ulna was done to achieve reduction of the radial head. Four patients with persistent anterior radial head dislocation were treated at our institution with this technique.
Results: All of them had good clinical and radiological outcomes at final follow-up.
Conclusions: Sliding angulation osteotomy is a technically simple procedure, which achieves lengthening and angulation of the ulna simultaneously in the sagittal plane and reduces the radial head.