Surgical Options for the Arthritic Elbow

A Literature Synthesis Indicates Very Low Quality, but Consistent Evidence of Improvements in Function after Surgical Interventions for Primary Osteoarthritis of the Elbow

“…Some studies addressing total elbow arthroplasty for other types of arthritis such as inflammatory or posttraumatic arthritis may not provide outcomes that are similar to those seen in osteoarthritis. However, reviews that show these procedures working across other forms of arthritis could increase our confidence that joint debridement or reconstructive procedures are safe and effective [40, 41]. Most notably there is a lack of RCTs comparing different surgical options either in terms of short- or long-term benefit.…”

Open debridement and radiocapitellar replacement in primary and post-traumatic arthritis of the elbow: a multicenter study

“…13 Over time, other investigations confirmed these findings 7,12,15,23,25,27,28 and showed that lateral degenerative changes may become clinically evident in patients in their late 40s or early 50s and be responsible for disabling elbow pain resistant to conservative treatment and nonreplacement procedures. 1,10,22,31 Indeed, in cases of primary and post-traumatic osteoarthritis of the lateral compartment, surgical procedures including synovectomy or open or arthroscopic debridement, or both, are often associated with poor surgical outcomes. 9 However, total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) has limited indications in young patients with high functional demands and in those showing no or moderate changes in the medial compartment.…”

Surgical synovectomy for rheumatoid arthritis: a comprehensive literature review

“…Synovectomy has become the procedure of choice for rheumatoid patients with uncontrolled symptoms as it gives a good long-term outcome. 1,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] Synovectomy in patients with RA is often reported as a successful procedure that leads to pain improvement in more than 65% of the cases; however, it may not improve the range of motion significantly. 38,39 Many authors have suggested synovectomy for mild to moderate disease and recommended it for the young and high-demand patients.…”

“…38,39 Many authors have suggested synovectomy for mild to moderate disease and recommended it for the young and high-demand patients. 35,[40][41][42] Elbow synovectomy can be performed arthroscopically or as an open procedure. Schmidt reported on arthroscopic synovectomy and found it to be most effective in cases when there is ligament laxity in the sense of a late synovectomy, as removal of loose bodies, smoothening of the cartilage, release of the joint capsule and possibly arthroscopy-assisted resection of the radius head can be performed.…”