Nonoperative Treatment of Distal Biceps Brachii Musculotendinous Partial Rupture: A Report of Two Cases

Musculotendinous ruptures of the distal biceps brachii are extremely rare injuries whose clinical presentation is similar to distal biceps avulsion. We describe two cases of patients who suffered a distal biceps brachii musculotendinous partial rupture. The first patient was playing soccer as goalkeeper and experienced sudden pain while throwing the ball overhead with his left arm. The second patient experienced sudden pain while weightlifting with his right arm. The mechanism of injury was the same in the two cases, as both involved glenohumeral elevation with elbow extension and forearm supination. Neither of these two patients underwent surgical repair or rehabilitation, and both had perfect scores of 100 on the Mayo Clinic Performance Index for the Elbow at one-year followup.