Triceps Repair for Acute Triceps Tendon Rupture
Gregory Schneider, BS¹; Asif M. Ilyas, MD, MBA, FACS¹’² ¹Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University ²Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University
The patient in this case suffered an acute triceps tendon rupture and opted for surgical repair to restore function. His physical exam findings of tenderness at the olecranon and weakness against resistance during elbow extension, combined with plain film imaging revealing a positive fleck sign representing an avulsion the triceps tendon off of the olecranon, gave the diagnosis of acute triceps tendon rupture.
The patient underwent surgical repair under general anesthesia in lateral decubitus position with a sterile tourniquet applied for hemostasis. The treatment goal was re-approximating the distal triceps tendon to the olecranon in order to restore elbow extension strength and upper extremity function. The surgical technique demonstrated in this video is the suture bridge technique.
Michael J. Weaver, MD Associate Orthopaedic Surgeon, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women’s Hospital
The patient in this case is an 81-year-old male with dementia who sustained an unwitnessed fall that resulted in a displaced intra-articular distal femur fracture. Here, Dr. Weaver at Brigham and Women’s Hospital repairs the fracture by performing an open reduction and internal fixation with a LISS plate. An anterolateral approach was used to visualize the joint surface and obtain an anatomic reduction of the articular surface, and a percutaneously-placed lateral lock plate was used to bridge the area of comminution while restoring length, alignment, and rotation to hopefully allow for biologic fixation that permits the bone to heal well.
Dr. Weaver treats a periprosthetic humeral spiral fracture using contoured plating. The posterolateral approach helps prevent dissection of the triceps for adequate exposure of the fracture.
Open Reduction and Internal Fixation of a Diaphyseal Humeral Fracture