ARTHROSCOPIC TREATMENT OF THE LATERAL ELBOW PAIN –OUR EXPERIENCE
Abstract
BACKGROUND In our preliminary study we described different causes of lateral elbow pain and our experiencewith arthroscopic treatment. METHODS We reported our preliminary results in our group of patients with lateral elbow paintreated by elbow arthroscopy. We focused also on morphologic elbow changes, hospitalstay and duration of rehabilitation. RESULTS We treated 40 patients with elbow pain and contracture between January 1, 2003 andDecember 31, 2006 and 30 of them had lateral elbow pain. The average age of the patientswas 38 years (12–55 years). In 10 patients the cause for elbow pain was chronic synovitisdue to rheumatoid arthritis, in 11 resistant lateral epicondylitis, in 6 osteochondral lesion of the olecranon, in 6 degenerative changes on the posterolateral side of the elbow, in 4loose bodies, in one osteoid osteoma, osteochondritis of the capitellum humeri and arthrofibrosisof the elbow after fracture of the radial head. In most of them (26) range of movementof the elbow was normal and they have no pain 2 years after arthroscopic treatment.3 of them with osteochondral lesion had 5 degrees and patient after arthroscopic arthrolysisafter radial head fracture had 15 degrees elbow contracture. CONCLUSIONS Arthroscopic treatment of the lateral elbow pain has been proved to be very effectiveespecially in younger population and in patients with early elbow osteoarthritis. The lengthof hospital stay is reduced. However, the length of rehabilitation depends on the stage ofelbow osteoarthritis and extensiveness of the arthroscopic interventionDownloads
The Author transfers to the Publisher (Zdravniški vestnik/Slovenian Medical Journal) all economic copyrights following form Article 22 of the Slovene Copyright and Related Rights Act (ZASP), including the right of reproduction, the right of distribution, the rental right, the right of public performance, the right of public transmission, the right of public communication by means of phonograms and videograms, the right of public presentation, the right of broadcasting, the right of rebroadcasting, the right of secondary broadcasting, the right of communication to the public, the right of transformation, the right of audiovisual adaptation and all other rights of the author according to ZASP.
The aforementioned rights are transferred non-exclusively, for an unlimited number of editions, for the term of the statutory
The Author can make use of his work himself or transfer subjective rights to others only after 3 months from date of first publishing in the journal Zdravniški vestnik/Slovenian Medical Journal.
The Publisher (Zdravniški vestnik/Slovenian Medical Journal) has the right to transfer the rights, acquired parties without explicit consent of the Author.
The Author consents that the Article be published under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 (attribution-non-commercial) or comparable licence.