Outcomes Following Radial Head Arthroplasty

Most current series of radial head arthroplasty include small numbers of patients with short-to medium-term follow-up and significant heterogeneity in patients, treatments, and outcome measures. The purpose of this systematic review was to review outcomes for radial head arthroplasty based on injury chronicity, injury pattern, and type of implant used. The authors systematically searched electronic databases for studies containing radial head arthroplasty or radial head replacement and identified 19 studies for inclusion in the analysis. For each included study, a composite mean was obtained for Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS) and range of motion. Outcomes were said to differ significantly if their confidence intervals did not overlap. The MEPS for acute treatment (90) was higher than that for delayed treatment (81). There was no difference in the pooled MEPS between the isolated (89) and complex injury pattern (87) groups or implant material. There was no difference in range of motion between the acute and delayed or isolated and complex groups, but the average degree of pronation was higher in patients treated with titanium implants (76 degrees) compared with cobalt chromium implants (66 degrees). This systematic review suggests that outcomes are improved following acute arthroplasty for treatment of radial head fractures compared with delayed treatment, based on MEPS. The lack of other significant differences detected is likely due to the significant heterogeneity and inadequate power in current studies. Further prospective studies isolating the different variables will be needed to determine their true effect on outcomes.