Long-term experiences with elbow arthroscopy

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present our long-term experience in elbow arthroscopy with special regard to diagnosis specific results. Methods: 103 out of 121 patients after elbow arthroscopy were evaluated with a mean followed-up time of 6.2 years. The age of the patients at time of surgery ranged between 3 and 72 years. For documentation the Figgie-Score was used. The results were documented in relation to the patients pathology. Results: The total score improved significantly from 49.3 to 89.3 (p < 0.05). There was no age dependency of the results, but a correlation to the preoperative duration of symptoms and the individual job situation. Between the different score parameters pain showed the highest improvement. While patients with free bodies as well as bacterial or rheumatic arthritis had a more noticable gain, the postoperative improvement for the patients with severe degenerative arthritis was only limited. Patients with unclear preoperative problems showed no improvement at all. Conclusion: While patients with free joint bodies or synovitis without degenerative joint disease have a significant benefit from elbow arthroscopy, patient with severe degenerative joint disease or patients with restricted range of motion will hardly show any improvement after surgery.