Abstract
Sixteen elbow joints in 14 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were replaced with non-constrained, total elbow prostheses of Kudoh Type 3. Postoperative assessment was performed according to the revised criteria by Dee-Kudoh and with an average period of postoperative follow-up of 13 months with a minimum of six.
Excellent results were obtained in 11 joints, fair in 3 and poor in 2. In the poor cases, the first was complicated with subsequent subluxation of the implanted prosthesis and reoperated on successfully, while the other developed persistent lymph-edema of the proximal part of the forearm, adjacent to the site operated on.
Useful degrees of flexion of the implanted joints were attained in all the cases. Simultaneous resection of the distal ulnar heads (Darrach's operation) at the time of total elbow replacement was found to be very useful in improving the degrees of rotation of the forearms involved.
From our limited experience with this type of prosthesis, we concluded that two things, namely, firm fixation of the implanted prosthesis in situ, and excellent repairing of the operative wounds thereafter, are mandatory in obtaining satisfactory postoperative results.
