elbow joint effusion: sail sign
The sail sign on an elbow radiograph, also known as the anterior fat pad sign, describes the elevation of the anterior fat pad to create a silhouette similar to a billowing spinnaker sail from a boat. It indicates the presence of an elbow joint effusion.
The anterior fat pad is usually concealed within the coronoid fossa or seen paralleling the anterior humeral line. When there is a joint effusion, the anterior fat pad (which is intra-articular, but extrasynovial) becomes elevated.
Elevation of the anterior fat pad usually heralds the presence of an intra-articular fracture. In adults, this is usually a radial head fracture whereas in children, the commonest cause of a raised elbow fat pad is a supracondylar fracture.
Where a fat pad is raised and no fracture is demonstrated, an occult fracture should be suspected.
Video tutorial
See also
- sail signs
- sail sign: the raised anterior fat pad on an elbow radiograph
- thymic sail sign: normal thymus on a pediatric chest radiograph
- spinnaker-sail sign (angel wing sign): thymus outlined in pneumomediastinum
- retrocardiac sail sign: left lower lobe collapse on a chest radiograph
Siehe auch:
- Fettpolsterzeichen
- Radiusköpfchenfraktur
- Spinnaker-Zeichen
- suprakondyläre Humerusfrakturen
- sail sign
- Gelenkerguss Ellenbogengelenk
und weiter:
Assoziationen und Differentialdiagnosen zu vorderes Fettpolsterzeichen Ellenbogen: 
