| Method of treatment discussed | Authors | Population | Summary of key findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radial head resection | Hall et al. [24] | Case series: 42 patients evaluated for elbow or forearm problems after radial head resection. | 7 patients (17%) were diagnosed with posterolateral rotational instability of the elbow. |
| Non-operative | Akesson et al. [20] | 49 patients treated non-operatively for Mason type-IIa radial head fractures. 6 patients had delayed radial head excision for poor outcome. | 40 of the 49 patients (82%) had no subjective complaints after non-operative treatment. Injured elbows had significantly lower ROM and higher degenerative changes compared to non-injured elbows but this was thought to be clinically insignificant by the authors. |
| Herbertsson et al. [25] | Retrospective study: 100 patients treated non-operatively, with radial head resection, or with ORIF for Mason type-II or III radial head and neck fractures. Mean follow-up was 19 years. | 77 of the 100 patients had no symptoms at follow-up. Mean ROM deficits were minor (2 degree flexion, 3 degree extension, and 3 degree supination deficits). 19 patients had primary radial head excision while 9 patients had a secondary procedure performed due to residual pain. | |
| ORIF | Ring et al. [19] | Retrospective study: 56 patients treated with ORIF for intra-articular radial head fracture. | 14 out of 15 patients with Mason Type-3 comminuted radial head fractures with at least 3 articular fragments had unsatisfactory results (based on failure of fixation or nonunion requiring radial head excision, a fair or poor result with the system of Broberg and Morrey, or recovery of < 100 degrees of forearm rotation). |
| RHA | Yan et al. [27] | RCT: 39 patients with Mason type-3 radial head fractures and associated terrible triad injuries of the elbow | RHA group had a significant shorter surgery duration, fewer post-surgical complications, and better clinical outcomes compared to the ORIF group. |
| Chen et al. [26] | RCT: 45 patients with unstable, multi-fragmented fractures of the radial head treated with either ORIF or RHA | Better outcome scores and lower complication rates among the RHA group compared to the ORIF group. |