Elbow Disorders in an Outpatient Clinic: An Epidemiological Study

Elbow disorders are a common cause of pain and functional impairment in the adult population, yet there is a lack of comprehensive epidemiological studies describing their distribution. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing the epidemiology of elbow complaints in a specialized orthopedic clinic.

To assess the prevalence, age distribution, and sex-related differences of the most common elbow disorders in an outpatient orthopedic setting.

A single-center cross-sectional study of medical records from patients treated between 2015 and 2024. Adults of both sexes presenting with elbow pain or dysfunction confirmed by imaging were included. Acute fractures and dislocations were excluded. Diagnoses were classified into major categories, including but not limited to lateral and medial epicondylitis, olecranon bursitis, cubital tunnel syndrome, osteoarthritis, tendinopathies, stiffness, and instability. Data were analyzed descriptively, with age categorized into 10-year intervals.

A total of 847 patients were analyzed, with a mean age of 48.4 ± 14.5 years, and 55.2% were male. The most prevalent diagnosis was lateral epicondylitis (53.2%), followed by medial epicondylitis (16.2%) and olecranon bursitis (5.8%). The highest incidence occurred in the 50-59 age group. Based on the data presented, the greatest discrepancy between genders occurred in olecranon bursitis and cubital tunnel syndrome, with male predominance of 77.6% and 58.3%, respectively, but overall both men and women were more affected by lateral epicondylitis.

In our investigation, lateral epicondylitis (53.2%), medial epicondylitis (16.2%), olecranon bursitis (5.8%), triceps tendinopathy (5.0%), and elbow stiffness (4.4%) were identified as the five most frequent diagnoses with an overall slight male prevalence.