ELBOW JOINT-JOINT & CAPSULE

SUMMARY

ARTICULATION
1. Combination of synovial hinge & pivot joints made up of three articulations.
2. Radiohumeral: capitellum of the humerus with the radial head.
3. Ulnohumeral: trochlea of the humerus with the trochlear notch (with separate olecranon and coronoid process articular facets) of the ulna.
4. Radioulnar: radial head with the radial notch of the ulna (proximal radioulnar joint).

FLEXION/EXTENSION
5. In full flexion - the coronoid process is received by the coronoid fossa and the radial head is received by the radial fossa on the anterior surface of the humerus.
6. In full extension - the olecranon process is received by the olecranon fossa on the posterior aspect of the humerus.

MOVEMENT
7. The hinge component (allowing flexion-extension) is formed by the ulnohumeral articulation.
8. The pivot component (allowing pronation-supination) is formed by the radiohumeral articulation & proximal radioulnar joints.



Images: Gray, Henry. Anatomy of the Human Body. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1918; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/107/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2018].

Reference(s)

R.M.H McMinn (1998). Last’s anatomy: regional and applied. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
Gray, H., Carter, H.V. and Davidson, G. (2017). Gray’s anatomy. London: Arcturus.