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In vivo changes in length of elbow collateral ligaments during pronation and supination on an outstretched arm

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Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated the length changes of the anterior bundle of the medial collateral ligament (AMCL) and the lateral ulnar collateral ligament (LUCL) in forearm pronation and supination under axial load in vivo.

Methods

Six healthy volunteers (2 males and 4 females, the average age of 44.6 years) were included in the study. CT scan of elbow joints was obtained at positions of forearm pronation and supination before and after load with the elbow extension. Mimics, Geomagic Studio, 3-matic Medical and Geometry Sketchpad were used to reconstruct three-dimensional models and analyze length changes of AMCL and LUCL. The AMCL and LUCL were divided, respectively, to three parts: the medial part, the middle part and the lateral part.

Results

Our results showed the length of the medial and middle parts of the AMCL significantly decreased from pronation to supination without load (0.46 mm, P < 0.05 and 0.43 mm, P < 0.05). With load, the length of the medial part and the middle of the AMCL significantly decreased from pronation to supination (0.62 mm, P < 0.05 and 0.44 mm P < 0.05). However, the length of the LUCL almost remained static for the forearm pronation and supination regardless of the axial load.

Conclusion

The results showed that tension of the AMCL increases in forearm pronation, and increased tension on the ligament during impact may pave the way to injury. The AMCL of elbow may be easier to be injured in forearm pronation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the staff of the Department of Hand Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University. The institutional review board approved this study, and informed consent was obtained from all volunteers.

Funding

This work were supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 8167090751).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hand Surgery, Hand Surgery Research Center, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, College of Medicine, University of Nantong, 20 West Temple Road, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, China

    Yang Wang, Yucheng Sun, Jing Chen & Jun Tan

  2. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, ASAN Medical Center, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Seoul, Korea

    Yucheng Sun, Erica Kholinne & In-Ho Jeon

Authors
  1. Yang Wang
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  2. Yucheng Sun
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  3. Jing Chen
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  4. Erica Kholinne
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  6. Jun Tan
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Contributions

YW: data collection, manuscript writing. YS: manuscript revision. JC: data analysis. EK: picture collection. I-HJ: manuscript revision. JT: project development.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Tan.

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The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Wang, Y., Sun, Y., Chen, J. et al. In vivo changes in length of elbow collateral ligaments during pronation and supination on an outstretched arm. Surg Radiol Anat 42, 919–925 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02451-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02451-5

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