define supracondylar fracture
A supracondylar humerus fracture is a fracture of the distal humerus just above the epicondyles. While relatively rare in adults it is one of the more common fractures to occur in children and is often associated with the development of serious complications. 1 Signs and symptoms.
Distal humerus fractures in adults are relatively uncommon injuries, representing only about 3% of all fractures in adults. In a study of 4536 consecutive fractures in adults seen in the Massachusetts General Hospital emergency department, only 0.31% were supracondylar (bicolumn) fractures of the distal humerus.