WAG Recovery time for medial epicondyle (elbow) fracture

[rsm]

Just wondering if anyone has previous experience with recovering from this type of fracture for their gymnast and getting back to full use of the arm. DD was training level 8, so I guess "full use" would include training typical level 8 skills. And whether or not surgery was done.

 

[CuriousCate]

How old is she? Did she need surgery?

 

[munchkin3]

2 kids I know, about 4-6 months before FULL use.....both involved pins and surgery, and both required PT.

 

[rsm]

How old is she? Did she need surgery?

She is 10. Did not need surgery, although it was a close call and differing opinions. Ended up without surgery. We expect to begin PT within a few weeks.

 

[rgmom]

Yes, a few years ago. Daughter was also training level 8. No surgery, but it took months of PT to get the arm straight again, strengthened and back to "full use".

 

[rsm]

Thank you! The dr has said 4-6 months before tumbling again, but I wasn't sure if that would be just getting back, or strong enough to do skills. I know it varies, but good to know how long it took others to recover. We're taking it week by week for now.

 

[CuriousCate]

Was the fracture not displaced so didn't need surgery? At 10 years old, she'll heal it quickly and likely be able to start conditioning and some weight bearing around week 12 but it will likely be 6 months to get up to full speed.

 

[luvmygymmie]

Mydaughter (level 8) had surgery (screw placed to secure the fracture) a year ago. The doctor originally said 6 months but she slowly started back around 3 months under the supervision of her PT. Originally we were told no surgery was necessary but after lots of my own research and recommendation by a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon surgery was strongly recommended. Within a month after surgery she could fully straighten her arm and had full strength by 3 months. I didn't realize it at the time but recently learned that Shannon Miller had the same injury and surgery...she talks about it on a YouTube video I found and it may interest your gymmie. I strongly recommend PT and orthopedic surgeons who specialize in sports medicine.

 

[rsm]

Mydaughter (level 8) had surgery (screw placed to secure the fracture) a year ago. The doctor originally said 6 months but she slowly started back around 3 months under the supervision of her PT. Originally we were told no surgery was necessary but after lots of my own research and recommendation by a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon surgery was strongly recommended. Within a month after surgery she could fully straighten her arm and had full strength by 3 months. I didn't realize it at the time but recently learned that Shannon Miller had the same injury and surgery...she talks about it on a YouTube video I found and it may interest your gymmie. I strongly recommend PT and orthopedic surgeons who specialize in sports medicine.

Do you mind if I ask how long after the injury did you do the surgery? We have 2 opinions. Both are ortho surgeons who specialize in sports medicine, one is a pedi specialist. First said no surgery needed, second said they would have done surgery initially but enough healing has happened that they'll wait and see now.

 

[rsm]

Was the fracture not displaced so didn't need surgery? At 10 years old, she'll heal it quickly and likely be able to start conditioning and some weight bearing around week 12 but it will likely be 6 months to get up to full speed.

There was some displacement. Not enough to require surgery outright.

 

[luvmygymmie]

My daughter had surgery 6 days after the injury. Our orthopedic said that it would heal without surgery but she would likely re-injure it because of the stress gymnasts put on their elbows. This was consistent with my review of research on this injury. If I recall correctly her displacement was right at 15mm. One week after surgery she was put in a brace and started motion activities.

 

[rsm]

My daughter had surgery 6 days after the injury. Our orthopedic said that it would heal without surgery but she would likely re-injure it because of the stress gymnasts put on their elbows. This was consistent with my review of research on this injury. If I recall correctly her displacement was right at 15mm. One week after surgery she was put in a brace and started motion activities.

Thank you! My DD is just under 5mm. They believe full recovery is possible without surgery, but there is still a potential (pretty low) for re-injury.

 

[.Emmy.]

I broke mine, and dislocated it at the same time. I needed 2 surgeries and never got my elbow movement fully back. Expect lots of physical therapy, depending on how bad it was.

 

[pinklemonadeliz]

I'm sure you have gotten all the answers you need on this, but just wanted to add my .02 in case it helps...

My (then 14yo) kiddo dislocated the left elbow w/ a ME fracture in Aug 15 - she had surgery to reattach w/a screw one week later (waited a week to be able to book a pediatric sports med surgeon). Was in a splint waiting for surgery and for a week after - doctors opted for surgery as they felt she needed the stability of the ME being attached due to the extremity of her sport.

After the splint was removed, she had 2+ mos of PT including a tension splint. She never "zero'd out" on her extension, probably due to scar tissue - she's about 5degrees short of straight - which doesn't seem like much, but her right elbow hyper-extends so the difference between the two is probably close to 10degrees - maybe slightly more.

She ended up competing in January '16 - had to do JO L6 instead of 7 as she wasn't able to train giants because of the elbow, but had a very successful season. She had to re-learn several skills, especially tumbling skills on beam as she had to learn to adjust for one arm being longer than the other (probably 1" difference). She still has pain in the elbow in spurts and has become very good friends with her bottle of Advil but chooses to tough it out because she loves gym.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Getting it straight is the hard part.

 

[Mich8]

I know this is an older post but was wondering how your daughter was doing. Mine is 10 and was training level 8. She had the same injury at the end of November and we opted for the surgery after 2 opinions. The surgery was done 1 week after the break she was then in a cast for a week and was able to start therapy. She had a wonderful therapist and worker very had and when we went in for her 3 week checkup after cast removal was given the ok to go back to full activity. Hard work and a very determined kid and two week later she competed in her first meet of the season as planned. She wasn't able to get her yurchenko back yet but still competed all 4 events with all her other skills. She is still having some pain where the pin is and is still doing therapy 2 days a week but I am amazed at her progress. Hope your daughter is doing well.

 

[luvmygymmie]

Mich8 my daughter at age 11, training Level 8 had this injury. She was cleared after 3 months. I have to say that I did A LOT of research and most studies recommended return to sport at 3 months (earliest). I would be concerned that she is still having some pain. My daughter did a gradual return with the support of physical therapist much earlier than 3 months but she was definitely not cleared to do all of her skills before 3 months. She never had any pain when she resumed her skills. Her doctor said that with these fractures there is often some ligament damage that also needs time to heal (whether there was elbow dislocation or not). My daughter did not dislocate her elbow and had full extension almost immediately after surgery. Hope she is doing well!

 

[Dee243]

Some of you had splints after surgery or a shorter time in a cast. Anyone know how that comes about?