Purpose or Case Report: The elbow is a complex joint and a basic understanding of normal developmental variants and maturation-dependent sites of weakness can help improve diagnostic confidence and accuracy. This educational review covers physiologic changes that occur with normal elbow development, imaging considerations, and common elbow pathologies, subdivided into those involving the medial, lateral, and posterior compartments. In the medial elbow, medial epicondylar apophysitis and avulsion factures are more common among the skeletally immature individuals whereas ulnar collateral ligament injury and medial epicondylitis are more common among skeletally mature individuals. In the lateral elbow, radial head subluxation, capitellar osteochondritis dissecans, and Panner’s disease are more common among skeletally immature individuals whereas lateral epicondylitis is more common among skeletally mature individuals. In the posterior elbow, olecranon physeal stress injury is more common among skeletally immature individuals whereas triceps tendon injury is more common among skeletally mature individuals. For completion, this educational review will briefly highlight pathologies in and around the elbow joint, including septic arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoid osteoma.
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