The natural history of a mistreated ipsilateral Galeazzi and Monteggia lesion: report of a case 39 years post-injury

Galeazzi injury combined with ipsilateral Monteggia lesion is extremely rare. A 45-year-old male patient with a mistreated Galeazzi lesion combined with an ipsilateral Monteggia fracture at the age of 6 is presented. Thirty-nine years post-injury his elbow was asymptomatic and stable and his distal radioulnar and radiocarpal joints were also asymptomatic. The strength of the limb was equal to the unaffected contralateral upper limb and he was able to work manually as a waiter for the last 20 years without any problem. The only obvious defect was a 30 degrees lack of elbow flexion and a 10 degrees lack of forearm pronation in comparison to the normal side.