OBJECTIVE: This paper has the purpose of evaluate the elbow carrying angle by clinic and radiographic examination in normal children and determine the range of normality according to age from childhood to skeletal maturity and also check if there is a statistically significant difference between the clinical and radiographic measurements. METHODS: We evaluated 510 persons with ages varying from 1 to 18 years distributed in groups with 30 subjects according to the age group with 1-year interval. We performed radiographic examination of the elbow and measured the angle formed by the long axis of the humerus and ulna. The data were statistically analyzed using the student t-test. RESULTS: We determined a normal curve of the study population where there was an increase of this parameter with the progression of age. No statistically significant difference between the clinical and radiographic measures. CONCLUSION: The average of the elbow carrying angle was 12,78 ± 5,35 degrees for females and 11,20 ± 4,45 degrees for males. This values increase progressively from childhood until 16 years when we notice stabilization. There was no statistical difference between the clinical and radiographic measurements.
Elbow joint; Child; Adolescent; Radiography; Anthropometry; Cross-sectional studies; Age factors
