by AceMedEd

Teach card · keep it in your scrub pocket

Elbow anatomy

Ask during the case

  1. During a posterior exposure (distal humerus, olecranon): "Before we touch the triceps, where is the ulnar nerve, and what forms the roof of its tunnel?"
  2. During a lateral exposure (radial head, lateral column): "Which interval are we in, and which way do we turn the forearm to keep the PIN away?"
  3. Anterior, in the cubital fossa (distal biceps, anterior exposure): "Lateral to medial, what's in the fossa, and which nerve is in the skin flap?"

Point at: the interval you are working in, and the nerve you are protecting, while they name both.

End of day: "Redraw the elbow at the epicondyles for me." Two minutes, no notes.

Where this kit and your technique differ, yours wins.

Send this to your students

The night before. They prep alone, redraw at turnover, and get a cold check tomorrow morning. They won't see these questions.

Open the student page

Reviewed by Mehdi “AC” Talle, D.O., November 2026. Sources: Netter, Gray's Anatomy and Hoppenfeld's surgical exposures. Teaching schematic, not to scale; anatomy and technique vary. Management and indications are left to you on purpose.