Surgery of the rheumatoid elbow

I suggest that for too long the problem of the rheumatoid elbow, particularly the need for surgical intervention, has been underestimated. Where the latter has been advocated the philosophy has been adopted that synovectomy and debridement with excision of the head of the radius is probably all that is required, or that in the late case excision arthroplasty may yield an adequate result. I suggest that these approaches are no longer tenable. Synovectomy and debridement with or without excision of the head of the radius does indeed retain an extremely valuable place in the management of stage 1, 2, and early stage 3 disease. In the later stages of the disease, however, serious consideration must now be given to total joint replacement, the results of which can be remarkably successful and durable, and the complications from which can now be contained within acceptable limits provided that the operating team is fully experienced. It must also be stressed how necessary it is in the medical or combined clinic to pursue careful clinical and radiological monitoring of the rheumatoid elbow so that signs of dangerous deterioration can be recognised early, and surgery applied at a time when optimal conditions for the particular surgical weapons to be used still exist.