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The individual treatment options have been described in detail. In some cases, however, an unusual concomitant injury occurs, which can significantly impede primary osteosynthesis and healing. This concomitant injury can be an interposing cartilaginous capitellar fragment.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This retrospective study describes four cases of trapped cartilage fragments of the capitellum that compromised primary osteosynthesis or primary conservative healing of a radial head fracture. Radiological imaging, function and pain level are presented pre- and postoperatively (mean follow-up 9.25\u00a0months).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>None of the four cases showed preoperative evidence of an incarcerated cartilage fragment of the capitellum. They all showed limited elbow range of motion. CT examinations were performed in all cases. In each case, the cartilage fragment was first sighted upon surgery, subsequently removed and the fractures treated with ORIF. Mean follow-up was of 9.25\u00a0months. All fractures healed, with excellent function and low pain scores.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study presents rare cases of a trapped humeral cartilage fragment in radial head fractures. Radiological imaging including CT scans cannot reliably detect this concomitant injury. Therefore, this problem becomes apparent and treatable only during surgery. A high degree of suspicion is necessary especially in patients with minimally displaced fractures associated with limited elbow motion and a gap at the fracture site as treating these injuries conservatively may lead to poor outcome.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00402-021-03895-z","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]],"date-time":"2021-04-20T04:02:52Z","timestamp":1618891372000},"page":"1615-1624","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Radial head fractures with interposed capitellar cartilage fragment\u2013hindrance to bone healing\u2013a case series"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"141","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9951-7629","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreas","family":"Harbrecht","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Hackl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tim","family":"Leschinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kilian","family":"Wegmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dominik","family":"Seybold","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lars P.","family":"M\u00fcller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"3895_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"520","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jse.2009.10.015","volume":"19","author":"L Kaas","year":"2010","unstructured":"Kaas L, van Riet RP, Vroemen JPAM, Eygendaal D (2010) The epidemiology of radial head fractures. 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The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Conflict of interest"}},{"value":"All procedures performed in our study involving patients were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee (Ethical Committee of the Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne \u2013VT 20\u20131667) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval was granted by the Ethical Committee of the Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethical approval"}}]}}