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Surgical technique| Volume 35, ISSUE 1, P129-136, January 2010

Interosseous Membrane Reconstruction for the Essex-Lopresti Injury

  • Julie E. Adams
    Correspondence
    Corresponding author: Julie E. Adams, MD, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Avenue, R200, Minneapolis, MN 55454
    Affiliations
    Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Philadelphia Hand Center, Thomas Jefferson University, King of Prussia, PA
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  • Randall W. Culp
    Affiliations
    Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Philadelphia Hand Center, Thomas Jefferson University, King of Prussia, PA
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  • A. Lee Osterman
    Affiliations
    Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Philadelphia Hand Center, Thomas Jefferson University, King of Prussia, PA
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      The Essex-Lopresti lesion, or radioulnar longitudinal dissociation, results from an axial load to the forearm with injury to the radial head and disruption of the interosseous membrane and the distal radioulnar joint. Unfortunately, an appreciation of the true extent of injury is not always realized in the acute setting, and patients present later with persistent or new reports of forearm discomfort and wrist and elbow pain. Reconstruction of the central band of the interosseous membrane with a bone–patellar tendon–bone graft is useful in the chronic setting and is described.

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