Radial head and neck fractures are the most frequently seen elbow fractures. The usual cause of this injury is a fall onto an outstretched hand with a partly flexed elbow. We report here an unusual case of bilateral non displaced radial neck fractures in a patient who presented with complaints of pain in both elbows following a simple fall. This case highlights the need for a high index of suspicion in the diagnosis of multiple injuries, no matter how `trivial` the mechanism of injury.

Gentamicin, whether administered either intravenously, incorporated into bone cement or for local intra-operative irrigation, is a commonly used antibiotic in orthopaedic practice. The former two have been well studied, however the literature on the therapeutic efficacy and safety of gentamicin irrigation is sparse. The objective of this study was to assess systemic absorption of gentamicin irrigation in joint replacement surgery. This was a non-randomised, prospective study. Ninety-eight patients (group A) who underwent total joint replacement and 40 patients (group B) who underwent hemi-arthroplasty were treated intraoperatively with gentamicin irrigation. Serum gentamicin levels were assayed at 4 hours and 24 hours post-surgery. Sixteen of 98 patients in group A (16%) and 12 out of 40 patients in group B (30%) were found to have serum gentamicin level above 2mcg/ml at 4 hours post-surgery. We conclude that intra-articular gentamicin irrigation is systemically absorbed at substantial levels.