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Clinical outcomes associated with the initial use of the Canine Unicompartmental Elbow (CUE) Arthroplasty System(®)
James L Cook1, Kurt S Schulz1, G Josh Karnes1
1Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA (Cook); Peak Veterinary Referral Center, Williston, Vermont, USA (Schulz); Arthrex, Inc., Naples, Florida, USA (Karnes); Small Animal Orthopedic Surgery, University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine, Athens, Georgia, USA (Franklin); Veterinary Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Group, Annapolis Junction, Maryland, USA (Canapp Jr.); CARE Veterinary Center, Frederick, Maryland, USA (Lotsikas); Fitzpatrick Referrals, Surrey, UK (Fitzpatrick); Virginia Veterinary Specialists, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA (Wheeler, Stiffler); Toronto Veterinary Emergency and Referral Hospital, Toronto, Ontario (Gillick); BluePearl Georgia Veterinary Specialists, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (Cross); Sage Centers for Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Care, Concord, California, USA (Walls); Montana Veterinary Surgical Service, Bozeman, Montana, USA (Albrecht); Eastern Carolina Veterinary Referral, Carolina Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Group, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA (Williams); Western Carolina Veterinary Surgery, Asheville, North Carolina, USA (Crouch); Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA (Lewis, Pozzi); Ridge Referrals, South Devon, UK (Ridge).
Abstract:
We evaluated mid- to long-term outcomes with respect to function and complications in dogs undergoing canine unicompartmental elbow (CUE) arthroplasty for treatment of medial compartment disease of the elbow. This prospective multicenter case series is the first group of clinical cases to receive CUE arthroplasty. Cases (each elbow that underwent CUE performed by a participating surgeon) were enrolled into an electronic database and prospectively followed to determine and record all associated complications, as well as functional outcomes. There were 103 cases from 18 surgeons. Final follow-up time ranged from 6 to 47 mo with a mean and median of 10 mo. Canine unicompartmental elbow was associated with 1 catastrophic (1%), 11 major (10.7%), and 28 minor (27.2%) complications. Outcomes following CUE were reported as full function in 49 cases (47.6%), acceptable function in 45 cases (43.7%), and unacceptable function in 9 cases (8.7%). We conclude that CUE arthroplasty is an appropriate consideration for treatment of medial compartment disease of the elbow in dogs.
