Cho CH, Lim KH, Kim DH. Bilateral snapping triceps syndrome: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2023; 11(34): 8228-8234 [PMID: 38130777 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i34.8228]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Du-Han Kim, PhD, Doctor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, Keimyung University School of Medicine, 1035 Dalgubul ro, Dalseo gu, Daegu 42601, South Korea. osmdkdh@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Orthopedics
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Dec 6, 2023; 11(34): 8228-8234 Published online Dec 6, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i34.8228
Bilateral snapping triceps syndrome: A case report
Chul-Hyun Cho, Kyung-Hwan Lim, Du-Han Kim
Chul-Hyun Cho, Du-Han Kim, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu 42601, South Korea
Kyung-Hwan Lim, Orthopedic Surgery, Allright Hospital, Daegu 42038, South Korea
Co-first authors: Chul-Hyun Cho and Kyung-Hwan Lim.
Author contributions: Cho CH and Kim DH contributed to conceptualization; Lim KH contributed to investigation; Lim KH and Kim DH contributed to data curation; Lim KH contributed to writing—original draft preparation; Kim DH and Cho CH contributed to writing—review and editing; Cho CH contributed to supervision; Kim DH contributed to project administration; the first two authors contributed equally to this article as first authors; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript; Cho CH and Lim KH contributed equally to this article as first authors.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: the authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Du-Han Kim, PhD, Doctor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, Keimyung University School of Medicine, 1035 Dalgubul ro, Dalseo gu, Daegu 42601, South Korea. osmdkdh@gmail.com
Received: October 10, 2023 Peer-review started: October 10, 2023 First decision: November 22, 2023 Revised: November 24, 2023 Accepted: November 28, 2023 Article in press: November 28, 2023 Published online: December 6, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Snapping triceps syndrome (STS) is a rare disease, while occurrence of bilateral STS is extremely rare. It is usually accompanied by dislocation of the ulnar nerve and double snapping is a clinically important feature. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no report of bilateral STS in young active patient.
CASE SUMMARY
A 23-year-old male presented with a complaint of discomfort and snapping on the medial side of both elbows while performing push-ups. On physical examination, two distinct snaps that were both palpable and audible were detected on additional clinical examination. Dynamic ultrasonography showed that the ulnar nerve and the medial head of the triceps were dislocated anteriorly over the medial epicondyle of the elbow during flexion motion. Finally, he was diagnosed as dislocation of the ulnar nerve and STS. Staged anterior subcutaneous transposition of the ulnar nerve combined with partial resection of the snapping portion of the triceps was performed. The patient’s pain and snapping symptoms were resolved immediately after surgery. Three months later, the patient was completely asymptomatic and returned to normal activity.
CONCLUSION
STS should be included in the differential diagnosis for active young patients who present with painful snapping on the medial side of the elbow joint, particularly when dislocation of the ulnar nerve is detected. Dynamic sonography is used to assist in accurate diagnosis and differentiation between isolated dislocation of the ulnar nerve and STS.
Core Tip: Snapping triceps syndrome (STS) is a rare disease, while occurrence of bilateral STS is extremely rare. It is usually accompanied by dislocation of the ulnar nerve and double snapping is a clinically important feature. Dislocation of the ulnar nerve typically occurs first, at approximately 70 to 90 degrees of elbow flexion, followed by dislocation of the triceps at approximately 100 to 110 degrees of elbow flexion. Dynamic sonography is used to assist in accurate diagnosis and differentiation. Here we reported on the case of a patient who underwent surgery for treatment of bilateral STS.
