Children with arthrogryposis often lack the ability to feed themselves, largely due to limited shoulder external rotation and elbow flexion. Patients who can achieve passive elbow flexion through a surgical release but who cannot externally rotate their shoulders are still unable to reach their mouths with their hands. Combining a posterior elbow capsular release with a simultaneous humeral osteotomy in these patients places the forearm and hand in a much better position for function with minimal additional surgical exposure.
Copyright © 2012 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.