Ossification centers of the elbow

Last revised by Arlene Campos on 24 Jun 2024

There are six ossification centers of the elbow that appear and develop in a relatively reproducible fashion, and are key to assessment of the pediatric elbow radiograph. Timing of their appearance varies in the literature but an approximation is given below. A useful mnemonic to remember the order of development is CRITOL or CRITOE (see video below).

Video

See also

Cases and figures

  • Frontal
  • Lateral
  • Labeled anatomy (illustration)
  • Labeled anatomy (illustration)
  • Age 2
  • Age 4
  • Age 5
  • Age 9
  • Age 11
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