Total Elbow Arthroplasty in Young Patients - An 8-Year Follow-up Case Series

Certain elbow pathologies can give rise to considerable loss of joint function, which would severely affect the daily living activities of the patients. Total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) can be a safe and reasonable motion-preserving and pain-relieving option in such debilitating elbow conditions. The aim of this case series is to evaluate the functional outcome of TEA in young patients with four different indications after an 8-year follow-up.

We report a case series of four TEA cases done for different indications, namely rheumatoid arthritis, chronic elbow dislocation, post-traumatic elbow ankylosis, and failed primary total elbow replacement, all in relatively young patients. All patients were given a semi-constrained Coonrad-Morrey prosthesis using a posterior Bryan-Morrey approach. The cases were done during the years 2013-2014. Eight-year follow-up of each case showed excellent functional outcome and persistent pain relief with a high Mayo Elbow Performance Score. All the patients have given written consent for publishing this article.

Despite being uncommon, total elbow replacement can be the choice of surgery for certain elbow affections, giving satisfactory functional recovery and good pain relief, even in a younger population.