frequency of secondary dislocations of initially non displaced and minimally displaced fractures of the lateral humeral condyle in children surveillance of a treatment algorithm aim of the study the treatment of undisplaced fractures of the lateral humeral condyle is conservative however it is problematic that it is not possible to differentiate between a stable and an unstable nondisplaced fracture a pragmatic approach is to xray the elbow without a cast 5 days after trauma and to compare those images with the initial ones if there is a central increase of dislocation then there is an indication of an unstable fracture the dislocation can also be indicated by a translational movement which is best observed in the border area the aim of the study was to retrospectively determine the incidence of secondary dislocations of initially undisplaced and minimally dislocated fractures of the lateral humeral condyle in infants between 2010 and 2015methods we performed a retrospective nonrandomized analysis of 75 children with initially undisplaced and minimally displaced fractures of the lateral humeral condyle between 2010 and 2015 the strategy for the evaluation of a stable and an unstable fracture of the lateral humeral condyle was carried out by means of an xray without a cast 5 days after trauma further radiological controls were performed after 14 days 4 weeks and after 10 to 12 weeks in operated childrenresults seven initially undisplaced and minimally dislocated fractures 93 showed a secondary dislocation 5 days after trauma when a radiological control without a cast was performed at the control 14 days after trauma there was no further secondary dislocation the immobilization took place in an upper arm cast for a period of 4 weeksconclusion 90 of all nondislocated fractures of the lateral humeral condyle can be treated conservatively it is important to find out which about 10 of children will experience a secondary dislocation safely and effectively it has been shown that the strategy for the evaluation of a stable and an unstable fracture of the lateral humeral condyle by means of a radiological control after 5 days without a cast can be effective and costsaving with a high degree of certainty the unstable fracture can be detected at the radiological control 5 days after trauma if after 5 days the radiological control reveals unsure finding regarding the dislocation it is advisable to recheck the fracture in the second radiological control after 14 days