Keiser Orthopedics
Dr. Darren Keiser MD | 222 N 192nd St. Elkhorn, NE 68022

Biceps Tendon Tear at Elbow

Biceps Tendon Tear at the Elbow

Elbow Article by Dr. Darren R Keiser MD

The biceps muscle is in the front of your upper arm. It helps you bend your elbow and rotate your forearm. It also helps keep your shoulder stable. Tendons attach muscles to bones. Your biceps tendons attach the biceps muscle to bones in the shoulder and in the elbow. If you tear the biceps tendon at the elbow, you will lose strength in your arm and be unable to forcefully turn your arm from palm down to palm up. Once torn, the biceps tendon at the elbow will not grow back to the bone and heal. Other arm muscles make it possible to bend the elbow fairly well without the biceps. However, they cannot fulfill all the functions, especially the motion of rotating the forearm from palm down to palm up. This is called supination. Significant, permanent weakness during supination will occur if this tendon is not surgically repaired.

Anatomy

The biceps has two tendons that attach the muscle to the bone in the shoulder and one tendon that attaches at the elbow. The tendon at the elbow is also called the distal biceps tendon. It attaches to the radial tuberosity. This is a small bump on one of the bones in your forearm (radius) near your elbow joint.

Description

tear of distal biceps tendon in elbowBiceps tendon tears can be either partial or complete. Partial tears. These tears do not completely sever the tendon. Complete tears. A complete tear will split the tendon into two pieces. In most cases, tears of the distal biceps tendon are complete. This means that the entire muscle is detached from the bone and pulled toward the shoulder. Distal biceps tendon rupture is equally likely in the dominant and non-dominant arm. Other arm muscles can substitute for the injured tendon, usually resulting in full motion and reasonable function. Left without surgical repair, however, the injured arm will have a 30% to 40% decrease in strength, mainly in twisting the forearm (supination). Rupture of the biceps tendon at the elbow is unusual. It occurs in only one to two people per 100,000 each year, and rarely in women. **Call the office of Dr. Darren Keiser to set up an appointment Article URL: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00376&webid=2FDDE053
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