For KCC this week, we looked at a variety of cases from cardiac to pulmonary to musculoskeletal. The musculoskeletal case was one of a congenital elbow luxation. Congenital usually means that the defect originated in utero, but the term seems to be more widely applied here to include at or shortly after birth.
The most common type of congenital elbow luxation is the luxation of the humeroulnar joint, with lateral displacement and rotation. It occurs mainly in small breed dogs. The other two types include solely the radial head luxating, and a general joint laxity that occurs in conjunction with other congenital anomalies such as ectrodactyly.
The features of congenital elbow luxation are luxation of one or more components of the elbow joint, and malformation of the bones. Bones develop according to the stresses that are placed on them. If the normal pressure is not there, such as in humeroulnar luxation, the normal features like the trochlear notch fail to develop normally.
This condition can be unilateral or bilateral, and either way a radiograph of the opposite limb is helpful.
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