At least one child is taken daily to the doctor with radical head subluxation, also known as pulled elbow or nursemaid’s elbow. The subluxtaion before the age of 5-6 happens because of the hyper-elasticity of the annular ligament.  In order to avoid such traumas, doctors recommend the parents to be careful when they want to lift or pull the children by the arm.

Ala Condrea, head of the Emergency Admissions Section of the Balti Municipal Hospital, has told IPN that almost every parent is forcing the children’s arms for educative purposes or when they play with them, without realizing that they can do harm to them.

When the child suffers such a subluxation (partial dislocation), the doctor immobilizes the hand for a period with the help of bandage. “The children of this age are very restless and curious and it is very hard for them not to move the immobilized hand,” said Ala Condrea.

Veaceslav Plamadeala, head of the Emergency Admissions Section of the Chisinau Children’s Hospital “Valentin Ignatenko”, said on some days they deal with ten such cases daily. He recommended the parents to immediately see a doctor in such cases so as not to delay the healing of the elbow. “The parents should not pull the children with force and spontaneously,” he stated.

According to a study carried out within the REPEMOL Project “Regionalization of the Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Services”, only 66% of the parents realize the risk of their children being hurt at home.