[The surgical treatment of the elbow joint in rheumatoid arthritis patients]

Preliminary assessment of early and late synovectomies of the elbow joint in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was made on the basis of combined examination of 48 patients with RA (23 patients from the USSR and 25 patients from Finland). All the patients were subjected to synovectomy of the elbow joint, early surgical interventions being conducted in the Finnish group and the late ones in the Soviet group. Every patient was examined one year after the operation, pain disappeared in about 7/10 of the patients. Late synovectomy proved effective in 3/5 of the cases. Surgical treatment of late classes of elbow joint arthritis made a favourable effect on the function of the hand as a whole and its capacity for self-service. A more lengthy observation is required to make a comparative assessment of early and late synovectomies of the elbow joint.