Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis (OA) of the elbow. We investigated 13 elbows with OA, 10 in men and 3 in women (mean age: 51 years), treated by arthroscopic surgery. The causes of OA were injuries due to sports (6 elbows) or physical labor (7 elbows). The arthroscopic surgery was performed with the patient in lateral recumbency under general anesthesia along with brachial plexus block. Ten of the 13 patients were allowed active range of motion exercise (ROM) on the day after surgery without any postoperative fixation. The mean follow-up period was 7 months. The treatment outcome was evaluated on the basis of elbow ROM, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, the visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, plain radiography and CT images. Postoperatively, the average ROM improved from extension -19° and flexion 103° to extension -9° and flexion 127°, the average JOA score improved from 66.5 to 84.9 points, and the VAS pain score was reduced from 5.9 to 2.4 points. We consider that arthroscopic surgery is minimally invasive and effective for osteoarthritis of the elbow, providing an improved ROM.
