Paediatric elbow trauma

You can tell the approximate age of a child from the degree of bone replacement of cartilage on x-ray. Approximately :

• Capitellum 'appears' at 2
• Radial head at 4
• Medial condyle at 6
• Trochlea at 8
• Olecranon at 10
• Lateral condyle at 12 years of age

The acronym CRMTOL is used to describe the usual order of appearance of all 6 elbow centers: capitellum, radial head, medial epicondyle, trochlea, olecranon, and lateral epicondyle.

References

• http://www.pediatric-orthopedics.com/Topics/Bones/Humerus/humerus.html
• Elbow Trauma, Pediatric on eMedicine