Monteggia fractures and Monteggia-like-lesions: a systematic review

Monteggia injuries are rare, but severe injuries of the elbow including various injury patterns. Treatment of these injuries is still topic of debate and strategies differ widely. In this systematic review on Monteggia injuries in adults, we aimed to clarify the incidence of different injury patterns within Monteggia injuries, investigate the main reasons leading to revision surgery and explore which surgical treatments should be favored to achieve satisfactory clinical results. We initially identified 182 publications and ultimately included 17 retrospective studies comprising 651 cases. All patients were classified using the Bado classification, leading to 30.5% Bado type I fractures, 60.4% type II fractures, 5.1% type III and 3.1% type IV fractures. Mean revision rate was 23%. Ulna non-union (28%) and limited range-of-motion (22%) are the main reasons for revision surgery. Meta-analysis shows a trend toward the use of locking plates for ulna fixation which may lead to less revision surgery and fewer ulna non-unions. Further biomechanical and clinical research is necessary to clarify the role of radial head surgery.