title: An Unusual Cause of Posterior Elbow Impingement: Detachment of a Hypertrophied Posterior Fat Pad.
abstract: We report a case of a 47-year-old woman who developed posterior impingement of the elbow due to detachment of a hypertrophied posterior fat pad. She reported acute left elbow pain after leaning back onto a hard object with her hand and subsequently experienced a "catching" sensation. Comparison with the magnetic resonance images of a normal elbow revealed a hypertrophied posterior fat pad interposed between the olecranon and olecranon fossa in both elbows, with the fat pad in the left elbow located more inferiorly than that in the right elbow. Elbow arthroscopy showed the olecranon fossa covered by the fat pad, a portion of which was detached from the rest of the pad. Debridement of the detached portion was performed until no impingement was evident. Postoperatively, full extension of the elbow did not elicit pain. Clinicians should include this pathology among the differential diagnoses for posterior elbow pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugiura
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suzue
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsutsui
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukuta
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sairyo